Before Paradise
by butterfly collective
Summary: This takes place not too long before the series started. Another Valentine's Day as Amelia tries not to think about her missing husband and Ethan's reminded of his sister.
1. Chapter 1

Amelia opened up the front door to her bank, relieved to get out of the heat. Summer had been relentless the valley during the past month and they hadn't seen much relief. During the hottest hours of the day many of the businesses shut down as most of the people living in town chose to get some relief from the heat.

Some customers drifted into the bank to deposit their earnings from their businesses but they'd fallen off since their hours had been reduced. Axelrod had groaned about his shortfall to Margaret who worked as the bank's main teller every time he dropped by.

She just reminded him he was lucky to be alive at all. Amelia stayed out of it working mostly in the back office keeping a low profile lest any of them be reminded that a woman ran the town's only bank.

She handled all the paperwork and managed the bank since even though she didn't technically own it, she had put all her energy and time into it given that she had no one else to do it for her. Her husband Pierce had disappeared two years earlier and his fate remained unknown. Oh, a posse had gone out looking for him a week after the marshal had gotten wind that he had vanished. They hadn't really suspected foul play as husbands disappearing in Paradise wasn't a rare occurrence since the latest mine closure. Even though she knew he'd angered some men in a card game not long before she felt sure that Pierce had left town and gone missing of his own accord. But she didn't give the marshal much information because she didn't want it to damage the reputation of the bank and she thought he might come back after the attention had faded.

The marshal just asked her if she had a fight with her husband before his disappearance and she admitted that much.

More often it was the wives who left usually on the morning stagecoach but this time Amelia's husband likely had just decided it was a good time to leave after one of his land schemes had fallen through…most of the town thought Pierce to be charming but also a scam artist.

It had taken Amelia a bit longer to realize the truth about her husband. The posse hadn't found them and she figured that he'd only turn up if he wanted to be found.

Ethan Cord had been on that posse, recruited to ride with it since he happened to be in town at the time between riding off to do whatever it was he did when he wasn't in Paradise. She'd heard he was some notorious gunfighter who people with money hired out to take care of business for them whether it was hunting down fugitives or dealing with vendettas. She tried not to be too curious about him as she had her own life to lead and it'd gotten a lot more complicated after Pierce took off.

She'd argued the night before with her husband over some inconsistencies she'd found in the bank's ledgers for that month and when she'd reviewed earlier ones, her heart sank.

He'd been skimming money off the top of the investments and pocketing it to pay off his gambling debts. She had challenged him about it as she had gotten much bolder than she'd been when they first married. He'd been surprised by that and after calling her foolish; he'd walked out on her to head off to the saloon.

She'd gone to bed by herself as she did so often these nights but expected to see him sleeping in the atrium couch in the morning.

But as she woke up that morning, the house had been silent. The sunlight had streamed into the atrium and he hadn't been sleeping there.

It had taken a week for the posse to head out looking for her missing husband. The marshal had asked her what she'd done to chase him off. When he'd asked her why she'd been unable to keep him at home, she willed herself not to slap him. But better that he and the rest of them think that than knew the truth, that Pierce had tried to skim money from the bank to get himself out of a jam with investors in his latest scheme. If people knew that, they'd all pull their money out closing their accounts and the bank would go under. She couldn't do anything about her irresponsible husband taking off but she could save the bank.

At least keep it going long enough until she could sell it and leave Paradise behind forever. That's all that she wanted to now, to put as many miles between her and the dying town as soon as possible. After all, that's what most everyone had done already.

She just had to pull it off so as not to scare off her customers.

She knew she was more than capable because she was a lady on the surface. She wore the most stylish dresses imported from Europe and lived in the most elegant of houses. She drove a nice buggy and she and her husband had funded various funds to improve the town and restore it to its former glory. But underneath she hadn't changed much from the young girl who'd been put on a boat by her father to head to America, leaving Australia and her family behind.

After she arrived, it hadn't taken her long to fall in with Pierce and become totally enamored with him and his lifestyle. He'd been a distant cousin of the family she'd lived with while she'd kept their house and hadn't been like anyone she'd ever met before.

But as it turned out, she hadn't known him well at all and he'd played her for a fool. It didn't matter because it had forced her to grow up quickly, to put everything else out of her mind and focus on being a businesswoman. She knew she'd be good at it and she had turned the bank around, just recently prospective buyers had come by to check it out. She just hadn't found a suitable buyer yet but it was only a matter of time.

She left the house that morning to head to the bank. Once she'd woken up in the morning, she had stopped looking for any signs of her husband a long time ago. She'd get up, tack up her horse and ride out to the lake when the day threatened to be hot.

After removing her dress, she'd jump into the lake wearing only her underclothes and swim to the waterfall. The water cascading over the rock attracted her each time. It was her private place hidden from the rest of the world where no one could see her. She could shed more than just her clothes and be the young woman she'd been when she'd first arrived in Paradise.

She didn't like much always having to be so cool and calculated, focused on money and investing more of it but she didn't have much of a choice. If any of the customers in town detected any weakness in her, a chink in her armor, then she wouldn't be able to stay in business.

So she kept that side of her personality to herself strictly under wraps. Like right now when she was taking inventory in the safe. Margaret kept giving her the same looks of pity that she'd shown since Pierce was declared missing.

"Any word on him…?"

Amelia looked over at her caught by surprise even though she shouldn't have been as Margaret asked this question nearly every morning like a ritual.

She sighed.

"No Margaret, just like there was no news yesterday, the day before and last year for that matter."

It made her cross sometimes that people seemed to think it was their business to inquire about a man that had been gone for nearly two years. She knew they were curious, maybe even concerned but she didn't need their sympathy, she just needed to keep moving forward until the day she sold the bank, her house and took off for good. She had so many other things she wanted to do, places to see and she'd promised herself one adventure after another.

Margaret just shook her head.

"You know he should really send word that he's alive," she said, "or have someone send it if he's not."

Dead, that's a word she didn't apply to Pierce. He'd always been one step ahead of any real serious harm so she'd stopped worrying about him. But if he were dead, she could mourn him as a widow and then move forward…maybe someday there could be someone else. If he were alive but wasn't coming home…or if he truly abandoned her, then she supposed at some point she'd be a divorcee which was in some ways worse than a widow.

She'd be marked in town as more than a subject of pity. But then there was no reason to file for divorce unless there was someone else and Amelia didn't see that in her future. She'd never even come close to relying on anyone again.

"Are you going to the meeting tonight?"

No she felt lost…

"Meeting what meeting…?"

Margaret sighed.

"Valentine's Day is tomorrow," she said, "

Amelia grimaced. For some reason, the women in Paradise, what few women still lived in town were into celebrating this holiday. All holidays to brighten up life in this busting town but Valentine's Day seemed near the top of the list for some reason. Margaret had been engaged herself some years ago but never married, meaning she was what was called a spinster.

Getting married just when she turned 15 prevented Amelia from suffering the same fate but thinking back, she wished she hadn't been married at all. She lived in the realm of in between…in between being a wife who was respectable and being either widow, still respected but an object of pity or a divorcee which was always viewed as somewhat scandalous. Today she didn't feel in a hurry to have that decided.

"No…no I've got the ledger to go through," she said, "What's happening this year with…"

"Valentine's Day…?"

Amelia nodded, glad that Margaret had said the words for her…because just thinking about it made her think of past holidays when Pierce had treated it…and her for that matter as something very special…then as years passed, it faded like everything else in their marriage until he just forgot all about it. She'd work that day into the night at their bank while he went out to the saloon to drink and gamble more of the bank's money away.

"Yes…a party, a social…a dirge?"

Margaret hid her displeasure at that last one just barely.

"Just a party that Scotty's holding at the saloon," she said, "You should attend."

Amelia shook her head.

"I'm a married woman even if I haven't seen my husband for almost two years."

"Well I'm sure Mr. Lawson will return soon. He has to, it's his sacred duty," Margaret said, "but you shouldn't be alone in the bank."

Amelia almost thought she detected what sounded like concern in her voice.

"I'll…think about it," she said, "I do have some work to do but maybe later…"

"Not too much later," Margaret said, "the marshal's keeping a close watch out for any signs of trouble from those ruffians…"

Amelia knew she meant the band of men bordering on outlaws that had been causing trouble as of late. The marshal didn't do much to stop them except warn them. Sometimes she thought that Cal Winston was as useless and weak as her husband. Then speaking of men, in walked the opposite of Cal and she looked up to see Ethan, looking less beat up than usual walking in the bank.

Ethan was the most confident of men but then if he were a gunfighter for hire, he had to be to stay alive. She imagined that even during his downtime, he had people coming after him whether for revenge or to take him out to make names for themselves. He had been polite to her when their paths crossed but she didn't like him around town because violence too often followed almost as if he attracted it. That wasn't necessarily true but even as a part of her enjoyed running into him, she wished he'd stay away.

He tipped his worn hat at her and Margaret.

"Good morning Mrs. Lawson, Ms Beadle…"

Margaret shot him a look of disapproval as she didn't like rough around the collar men like Ethan at all. Amelia smiled slightly..

"Good morning Mr. Cord," she said, "You hear to deposit your winnings?"

Meaning the poker games because when he was in town, he frequented them and her husband more than once had grumbled about losing his shirt to that gunslinger who could out bluff a statue.

"No Ma'am, I'm here to make a withdrawal."

That surprised her. Once he deposited what money he had, it usually stayed in his account almost as if he were saving it for something. She nodded and directed Margaret to take care of the transaction. It wasn't for very much money.

"Paying a bill?"

He shook his head with a smile.

"No…I'm going to Axelrod's to buy something to send back to St. Louis," he said, "Got kin there."

She heard that he'd had a sister and that she had been an actress or singer or something like that. Maybe she had children.

"That's nice…is it for Valentine's Day?"

He looked at her intently for a moment.

"You know what that is don't you Mr. Cord?"

He nodded.

"Yes I do Mrs. Lawson. I don't have time to celebrate holidays."

"No I imagine you don't," she said, "Neither do I."

Unlike everyone else in town, he didn't ask her or look like he was going to ask her why. But then she supposed either he didn't care much to know the answer or he already knew it. She didn't know much about him

"You always working?"

She tilted her face.

"I've got a bank to run because Paradise needs it."

"Just got back into town after a job…"

She didn't press him for details about his job. After all it was none of her business and she really didn't want to know.

"And I thought I'd get something and send it to Lucy."

"Your sister…"

He nodded.

"It's too late for Valentine's Day but I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

"She's got children…four of them."

She hadn't known that just like she didn't know hardly anything about Ethan.

"Really…have you seen them?"

"No…no I haven't," he said, "I haven't seen her in years. She moves around a lot like I do."

Amelia smiled a little.

"That does make it difficult."

"Yes…I heard they're having a party tomorrow…"

"Yes for the holiday," she said, "It's good for business."

He seemed to digest that.

"Are you going?"

She'd thought about it but just shook her head.

"No…work remember…? That's mostly what I do."

He paused a long moment, looking at her with those intense brown eyes. Thinking about what she didn't know and she didn't ask.

He did his business, she gave him the money and he left the bank. She wondered about him sometimes but she couldn't afford to do anything with it. His life had complications a woman like herself didn't need and her own life…in limbo because of her husband talking off.

* * *

Ethan didn't know what to buy for Lucy in Axelrod's mercantile. He hadn't seen her in years, most of the time they'd spent together had been as children who'd been orphaned and left to fend for survival. At some point she'd gotten married after she became an entertainer. She had children four of them and he got scraps of news every now and then. But he didn't know them at all.

There had never been any place in his life for a family including children. He didn't even know what that meant as his sister had been the only person he'd grown up knowing. Her and then later Emma and what had happened to her…he closed his eyes not wanting to think about what was done in the past. The man who had taken them in and then used him for his own gain, the one who'd killed her and nearly him…he'd get what was coming to him as soon as their paths crossed. He'd stopped actively looking for him because his work kept him too busy what with the traveling and the rest of it. Now he'd crashed back in Paradise in the hotel. He'd spend his afternoons and evenings in the saloon until it was time to go on another assignment.

The rest of the town just tolerated him as he'd never really been a part of its fabric. They used him and his firepower when it was needed to fight some outlaw or settle some drunken brawl. But the rest of the time he knew they'd exile him if they had the chance.

The woman he'd just left he didn't know how she felt. He knew she disapproved of his line of work and said it was bad for business but she treated him civilly perhaps because that was good business.

Axelrod just watched him from the counter as he looked for something to send Lucy. Almost as if a shootout would break out in the middle of his store but Ethan knew the town to be peaceful right now…

He wondered what life might be like for her. Sporadic letters from her detailed what sounded like an exciting life traveling to different towns and putting on revues, not much news about her husband what's his name. Ethan never returned her letters, he could barely read and write but even if it took him forever to read through one of her narratives, he did it, they were the only ties he had with his sister.

Wait, he had sent a photo to her once of him taking in front of this mercantile not too long ago.

"Do you find anything yet?"

He looked over at Axelrod who'd never been friendly with him.

"I'm still looking…I got some time before the poker game starts off at the saloon."

Axelrod scrunched his face in disapproval as Ethan knew would happen. But he'd made a pile of cash last night to supplement his earnings off his last job…to pay his room and board at the hotel and to add to his bank account.

After he left Axelrod unable to decide on a purchase, he went to the saloon. He saw some unfamiliar horses tied up near the bank and a man he didn't recognize standing nearby. At the saloon, Scotty awaited along with Charlie, Amos and Tiny. They'd spend another slow afternoon beating each other at poker. Not much fighting, that had somehow ended after Pierce had left town.

"You bring all that cash you won last night?"

He looked at Scotty.

"You bring a better game?"

Scotty didn't look offended. He never held onto the right cards and didn't boast a good bluff. They all sat down and began to play.

* * *

Amelia remained at the bank working in her office. Margaret handled the customers while she worked the books. She'd undid most of the damage her errant husband had done by now but she didn't want to trust anyone to handle them again.

Margaret walked into the office.

"That's the last of them for now," she said, "I think it'll be slow the rest of the day."

Amelia looked up.

"You mean slower."

Margaret sat down near her desk.

"Yes…well maybe it's the holiday."

Amelia arched her brows.

"It's the bust but hopefully we'll be able to turn it around soon," she said, "Like it used to be when more people lived here, more families…"

Margaret sighed.

"I don't know if it'll ever be like that again but I hope it doesn't become a ghost town."

Amelia didn't want to see that either. She'd come here some years ago after she and Pierce had eloped and traveled around a bit. He'd been looking for business opportunities when they passed through the then booming mining town and somehow wound up staying overnight…and then staying much longer. Well, she'd stayed even longer than Pierce until the day came when she'd finally leave.

"Paradise will come out of this just fine," Amelia said, "if people don't panic and scatter."

Margaret sighed.

"No place for me to go…no family so I might as well stay right here…but I will be at the party tomorrow…have you decided to go yet?"

No she hadn't, Amelia didn't feel any reason to celebrate it and she didn't think anything would change her mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Amelia dropped by the planning meeting run by Margaret and Edwina, the woman who ran a fabric store. She didn't plan on saying anything; she just couldn't bear to look at another row of numbers in a ledger and didn't want to go home to an empty house.

"We're going to have decorations all over the saloon…"

Amelia suddenly had a thought despite her vow of silence.

"Wait a minute…isn't there going to be a poker game there?"

Margaret sighed.

"It's going to be in the back room," she said, "That'll leave us the whole restaurant part of it for the party."

That would work, thought Amelia not that she was going.

"Mary said she'd make some desserts," Edwina said, "Scotty's going to help her."

Before he hit the poker match, Amelia thought and the betting began in earnest. She'd remembered what it'd been like when Pierce frequented those games not long before he left. She had heard afterward that some of the out of town players had been looking at him a time or two to get at him for what they said was cheating. She'd just said that he was nowhere to be found and that if they did run into him, she hoped that someone would send her word.

But no one did that. Perhaps he was dead, had met a bad end at the hands of someone he scammed. He could be lying buried in some grave somewhere unidentified or out in the desert getting his bones picked at by buzzards. She didn't know and she didn't much care at this point did she? No, he left due to some weakness on his part; it was his fault and had nothing to with her or her actions.

"Amelia would you like to make a donation?"

She just looked up as both Margaret and Edwina looked at her.

"What kind?"

Margaret pursed her mouth.

"Money of course," she said, "We have a tab at Axelrod's to pay off and then there are the drinks at the saloon."

"Drinks…?"

"Oh don't say it like that Amelia," Edwina said, "Just something to lighten things up…some of us don't have anything to celebrate not having husbands."

Amelia sighed.

"Maybe that is something for celebration," she said, "being married isn't everything…"

Oh except for being the only way that many women could survive. Women like Margaret who was what was called an old maid and Edwina, a widow were often struggling just to get by and support themselves and their families with men. But Amelia had done just fine without her husband, better in fact.

Margaret gave her a disapproving look.

"Now Amelia, I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding between you and Mr. Lawson…perhaps you jumped to conclusions."

Amelia's eyes flashed at what the other woman had just said.

"I did not jump to conclusions…hardly…I learned the truth about him too late."

Margaret and Edwina looked at each other and Amelia knew that they'd always wanted to give her cad of a husband the benefit of the doubt. Well she had too for much too long and now she was alone, and if they'd known the truth about Pierce putting the town's bank at such risk…well she could never tell them that…being a businesswoman and all.

So she said nothing, she just hoped they'd move on to the next topic.

"Yes, the bank's foundation will donate a small amount of money," she said, "You can pick up the draft tomorrow morning."

Margaret looked pleased but she didn't know that Pierce had nearly drained that fund to feed his gambling habits. God, sometimes she just wanted to lay the harsh truth about him on these biddies but if she did that the bank and ultimately the town would suffer and it'd been through enough already what with the latest shutdown of the mines after the ore ran out.

No she had to keep some secrets after all even if it was proving harder to do so with each passing day not less.

* * *

Ethan had a great hand and was one card away from a nice straight. Scotty bluffed badly as usually and Ethan guessed he was trying to pass two pair at best as a straight. Tiny, maybe going for a full house and as Ethan sipped his whisky he waited for something to happen.

No fights had broken out lately and the games were getting pretty tame. There'd been some riff raff showing up trying to push their way into them but Ethan had politely told them to take it elsewhere. Some people just were obviously interested in trouble. With a worthless town marshal like Cal, Ethan knew it'd be up to him to clear out any messes and that gave him veto power.

"How many cards?"

Ethan looked at his hand and thought he needed that one more so he took it and it didn't help him much. So he sipped his whisky.

"So what do you think about this Valentine's Day business?"

Ethan glanced up at Scotty.

"You got a wife, so why you asking that question?"

Scotty looked sheepish.

"She's been pushing me to get her something nice," he said, "and you know she's taking over the saloon for her party."

Ethan knew about that but he knew he'd be where the poker game was held. He didn't cotton much to the holiday and even less to holiday parties. Holidays brought out volatile tempers and he'd had to return more than one body to some grieving relative because of that.

Tiny spoke up.

"It's just foolish if you ask me," he said, "and there's nothing for the men folk to do."

"You got poker," Ethan said, "and double ante tomorrow just to get started."

Charlie shook his head.

"Don't know if I can afford that Ethan," he said, "this job doesn't pay much."

Charlie was but a deputy for Cal and even though he did a most of the work it didn't pay very well and what he made, well Charlie lost a huge chunk of it on poker.

"You know the ladies are planning it right now," Scotty said, "Mostly Edwina, Margaret but Amelia showed up."

That made Ethan arch his brows…after all she hadn't sounded like she liked the parties anymore than he did…but then again with Pierce disappearing like he did. The man wasn't worth a bucket of bull piss. Amelia might be more than a handful and difficult but any man who ran off on his family deserved what he got…and Ethan figured that something must have happened to Pierce since he didn't crawl home.

"I don't know why Amelia's bothering now. She didn't last year…or the year before that."

"It's not like she can do nothing," Crawford pointed out, "She's still married to her husband."

Deets nodded.

"Must be hard without a man to come home to," he said, "but then maybe she wasn't much of a woman."

Ethan tensed. He'd come here to play a good game of poker and make some money not to denigrate a woman even one like Amelia.

The other men chuckled and he stood up.

"You going to talk like this all night or you going to start losing your money…?"

They just looked at him.

"Hey Ethan…it's just idle talk," Charlie said, "Not much else going on in Paradise since…you know everything went bust. Besides, I still get the occasional wire back on her husband…he's not dead anyway."

"He'll be worse than that if he shows up now," Scotty said, "Amelia might not show it much but she's got a wilder side."

Charlie nodded.

"She was a sprite when she first came here with Pierce," he said, "Her husband talked a big game but she was the smart one."

Ethan hadn't known her back then. He didn't much know her now. But he saw that she was smart and very driven in ways that he didn't understand.

"Pierce was just too smooth," Charlie said, "He would have fooled any women."

Ethan leaned back in his chair.

"He fooled most of the men too," he said, "Now who can beat this?"

He laid down his straight flush in front of the astonished men.

* * *

Amelia had walked out of the planning meeting. It had all been one big mistake. She knew that people still blamed her for her husband leaving, like she couldn't hold onto him. Most of the time it didn't faze her but right now she didn't want to see the same looks.

Margaret had always fancied that Pierce was the best thing that could happen to any woman and had told her that if he returned, Amelia should take him back. But she couldn't bring herself to want to do anything but shoot him if he dared show his face in Paradise again.

If not shoot him get him to sell the bank if she couldn't do it on her own. It didn't seem fair that he could take off without notice yet she remained bound here out of mostly obligation and partly survival.

She had stood up at some point and just looked at the other women.

"No I most certainly will not beg for him to forgive me if he comes back," she said, "I'm not the person who did wrong here. He did…and if he dares come back, I'll deal with him."

They just stared at her as she excused herself and left them to go walk outside.

Being February, it was a bit nippy and she pulled her shawl around her closer. She should be used to it by now, the whispers, the looks and sometimes the overt behavior. But it'd been nearly two years and you'd think the town would just move on like she'd done. The streets were lit up as darkness had fallen on the valley and while occasionally she'd see someone dip into the saloon, it was pretty quiet.

Paradise didn't have much in the way of families anymore. But she hoped that would change and that the bank could be a cornerstone in reviving the town…still without the mines operational that would be a difficult feat.

She looked up and saw him walking towards the hotel. Ethan stayed there in between jobs and sometimes he had a saloon girl with him. Tonight, he'd been by himself and she knew from the noises inside the saloon, he'd left early.

As she walked she suddenly heard footsteps behind her and then a male voice.

"Where you going pretty thing…?"

She sighed inwardly. Another drunken former miner no doubt…hitting on the first woman that he saw. Ignore him, she told herself as she kept walking.

"You hear me, I asked a question."

She turned around to face him. He was a little older than her and scruffily dressed. His voice slurred a bit.

"I don't respond to men I don't know and I don't know you."

He paused and then laughed.

"I know you," he said, "or I know your husband…"

She sighed, because sometimes she ran into people who Pierce had ripped off in one of his scams.

"Look I don't know where he is and I don't care," she said, "I haven't seen him in two years."

The man leered.

"Then I'm sure he won't mind if you pay off the money he owes me."

She'd already paid enough of the money he'd skimmed off the bank over time and didn't have anything left if she'd been so inclined. She wasn't responsible for her husband's bad behavior just because she'd married him. She hadn't known about most of it until it was too late.

"I can't do that," she said, "You'll have to take that up with him when you find him."

"Been looking…but Pierce always knew when to drop out of sight," he said, "as I bet you know."

She did now but she just wanted to get home.

"It's not my affair…so if you'll excuse me."

He grabbed her arm so suddenly it nearly knocked her off her feet. His expression turned meaner.

"No…I want what's owed me but if you want to pay me in other ways…"

She just looked at him shocked and tried to shake her hand loose but he held tight.

"Let me go or…."

"Or you'll do what…you're just a woman…not many good uses for them but a few."

Amelia didn't want to wait for an explanation on what they were so she balled up her hand into a fist to hit him.

Her blow caught him glancing off his jaw and it just made him angry.

"Why you…"

She prepared to duck to get ready for her next swing…when something stopped him in his track. Someone had grabbed hold of his arm.

"Mr. Cord…"

She hadn't heard him come over and the expression on his face looked quite cross. It caught the attention of the man.

"Let her go if you know what's good for you."

The man sneered.

"Her husband ripped me off…"

Ethan didn't appear moved.

"That's his affair not hers," he said, "Now let her go and go along your way."

"What if I…"

But Ethan had already grabbed him quickly, got him to release Amelia and shoved him on the ground. The man just lay there dazed looking up at both of them.

"Now get a move on….unless you want more."

But the man had enough, he scrambled on his feet and hurried away without another word. Amelia just stood there a bit shaken.

"You okay?"

She looked up at him and nodded.

"I didn't hear him coming behind me," she said, "Thank you."

Not easy words for her to say but she knew in this case, he'd helped her.

"I'll walk you the rest of the way home."

"No…that's not really necessary…I can make it."

He shook his head.

"It's dark and he might be waiting until I leave," he said, "and no one here to help you."

She sighed.

"I don't need help…most of the time."

He didn't say anything but walked with her down the street to her house to make sure she arrived safely.


	3. Chapter 3

Amelia woke up the next morning to an empty house. She'd stopped looking for her husband a long time ago and had learned to welcome the peace and quiet. She got up to get dressed to go to the bank before eating some breakfast. She didn't like cooking much and Pierce had always made fun of her meals she had prepared to him.

She'd cooked for others when she'd first arrived her for her sponsoring family, who had put her to work including waiting on others her own age. Getting up before the sun and finishing her work after it set, she'd gotten used to that and the tedium of chores. Pierce's arrival in her life had done much to tug her away from an uncertain future. She'd been so drawn to the handsome man with the silver tongue and the sense of adventure who was different than anyone she'd ever known.

What happened last night hadn't been that unusual…but it'd been a while since it had happened. Some man that her husband had ripped off or swindled coming to Paradise to track down anyone with any link to him and that usually meant her. They'd ask her, implore her even threaten her to try to get their money back or the location where they could find Pierce to exact their own justice.

Ethan had walked into it just at the right moment because this man seemed more upset than usual. So rarely did they physically attack her like he'd done but her father had taught her how to use her fists to fight and she'd thrown a punch at him. She knew how to duck an incoming blow and that's what she'd been doing when Ethan showed up and sent the man on his way.

She could have handled it herself. That's what she told him when he insisted on walking her to her house. He had told her it was just in case the man remained close by, waiting for him to leave before coming after her again.

After she'd walked up the steps and opened her front door, he tipped his hat and then walked away.

Now as she ate breakfast, she'd hoped that the disgruntled man had moved on and out of town. She had a lot of work to do, not to mention having to listen to Margaret remind her not to give up hope that her husband might return.

She didn't want him back at this point. Too much time had passed and she'd grown independent enough to know she didn't need him to survive. But then there was no need to divorce him either because it'd be too much hassle and paperwork considering he couldn't be located. She just focused on keeping the bank above water and making it attractive to any prospective buyers.

Ethan hindered that process because being a gunslinger; he attracted violence wherever he showed up. No, it wasn't always his fault if someone from his past chose to show up and dare him to a showdown in the streets with guns drawn but it didn't change the fact that his presence in the city impacted its economic situation in a negative way.

Violence and bodies dead in the street riddled with bullet holes like nearby buildings just hurt the town's ability to boom again. She had told him that often enough and yet he still helped her.

One look out the window revealed a sunny day, uncharacteristically warm for this time of year. That meant that she might see more business at the bank so she grabbed her satchel and headed on over there just down the street.

* * *

Ethan woke up in his hotel room forgetting for a moment where he'd crashed earlier. He had been so used to camping outside while traveling that sleeping in a bed proved to be a rarity. He'd drunk some whisky last night but not enough to make him drunk though he did have a headache. The sunlight shone in the window indicated it was midmorning but he had nowhere to go in between poker games. He'd finished his latest job a week ago and it'd be another week until the next one. He had just been hired to pick up a fugitive in Lodi and take him to Sacramento.

In the meantime there were poker games to win and money to collect, to deposit in the account. He still had to buy his sister Lucy and her children a present. He didn't know why he'd started thinking of his sister for the first time in months but he'd been envisioning her inside his head back to the days when she'd been much younger of course and they'd spent time together after reuniting again.

He got out of bed, cleaned himself up and then went down to get some breakfast at the saloon restaurant. Charlie and Scotty stood there talking by the bar and they both stopped when he approached.

"You showing up later today," Scotty asked.

Meaning the late afternoon poker match, so Ethan nodded and he intended to take home a big pot tonight.

Charlie shot a look over at Scotty.

"Mary's going to lay the law on you," he said, "if you mess with the Valentine's Day party."

Scotty scoffed.

"I run this establishment and the poker game's going on even with her party."

Ethan bit back a smile because he knew in Scotty's household, Mary wore the pants so to speak beginning with the kitchen.

"The women met last night but Margaret and Amelia sparred a bit."

Ethan arched a brow. He didn't know the two other argued but he knew that Margaret was even more judgmental than Amelia.

"It was about Pierce, according to my wife."

Charlie chuckled.

"Margaret keeps telling her to take him back if he ever shows up again but I doubt we'll ever see him again."

Scotty shook his head.

"That won't happen," he said, "Amelia will shoot him first. She's a crack shot."

Ethan didn't know that because he knew little about the woman. But he did know that Pierce's disappearance never ceased to be a topic of idle gossip. He knew the man was probably lying low somewhere far away until he knew that he was no longer being sought by those who wanted vengeance. He also knew that Amelia was better off without him and she was the only pretty young woman to look at in this town.

Mary walked into the room carrying some breakfast.

"Ethan I got your meal here," she said, "Enjoy it and just ignore what my husband says."

He sat down at the bar and dove into the eggs and fried potatoes while the other men watched. Charlie spoke up.

"Some man came by looking for Pierce last night…just after I left the saloon…said he got ripped off by him."

Scotty sighed.

"He and nearly everyone else…if only he could have gotten hung…"

Ethan knew a lot of people felt that way but the man hadn't killed anyone. He had taken from them by lying and then he'd slipped away one night.

"I saw him last night."

The men looked at him.

"Where…?"

"On the main street," Ethan said, "He was giving Amelia a hard time."

Charlie sighed.

"What'd you do Ethan?"

Ethan chewed on a bite of his food.

"Told him just to move on," he said "Amelia had his measure soon enough."

Scotty and Charlie looked at each other. Most of the town knew that Amelia had obviously been taught by someone how to fight.

"Did he leave?"

Ethan shrugged.

"I don't know…haven't seen him since."

* * *

Amelia half listened to Margaret who weaved some romantic story of thwarted love from her own past and then tried to impart some hard won knowledge involving Amelia's own marriage. She didn't want to hear any of it because she had heard it already. Valentine's Day had no meaning for her and she chose to just ignore it

"Margaret, not another word about it," she said, "I know I made the right decision about Pierce and so help me if he returns…"

The older woman threw her a disapproving look.

"You don't mean it Amelia…absence will make the heart grow fonder as they say…you'll see that when he returns."

Not likely, Amelia thought. She had just learned to live without him, to rely on herself and no one else. She put every ounce of energy and all of her time into the bank. The better she made of it, the sooner she'd sell it and then she'd take off and find a life for herself elsewhere.

More footsteps and Ethan walked in the bank. He walked up to the counter and Margaret moved over to wait on him.

"I'm here to deposit some money," he said, handing some bills over to her.

Margaret just looked at them as if they were suspicious. Amelia knew she didn't like Ethan.

"I'll see what I can do…"

Amelia moved forward.

"I'll do it, after what you did last night…"

Ethan's mouth twitched.

"You seemed to handle yourself fine."

Amelia smiled and she caught a puzzled look on Margaret's face.

"He was just so upset…by my husband," she said, glancing over at Margaret, "Pierce had that effect on people."

The teller's face turned prissy.

"Hopefully he's moved on…"

Amelia nodded wanting that too. She smiled at him.

"He won't be the last…"

Margaret cleared her throat.

"Amelia, are you coming to the party tonight?"

She still hadn't decided and she found herself looking over at Ethan.

"I don't know Margaret," she said, "I've got a lot of work to do first…I have a prospective buyer coming next week."

Ethan narrowed his eyes.

"You are selling the bank?"

She looked directly at him.

"I don't know…it depends on the offer but it's worth a lot," she said, "Don't worry…if I do, the transition to a new owner will be smooth."

"But you'll be leaving…"

She nodded.

"Yes as soon as possible," she said, "You see there's nothing for me here anymore now that Pierce is gone. He brought me here as part of some land scheme. I didn't think I'd still be here now."

She needed to leave Paradise, surely he could understand that and why had he asked anyway? Amelia stared into his brown eyes not really understanding him now.


	4. Chapter 4

Ethan knew that Amelia wanted to leave Paradise in the worst way. She wanted to get aboard a stagecoach and see it disappearing behind her, never to be seen again. He didn't blame her for that. He didn't much like the town either…except for a couple of friends he had like John Taylor who didn't really live there. In fact he still didn't know where his enigmatic friend did live. Oh, and Tiny the blacksmith and a couple others. Most of the others alternated between begging him to save them from some band of outlaws or trying to exile him from their sight, thinking he was bad for business.

So he spent most of his time traveling to and from jobs or tailing outlaws and fugitives of various sorts and then would only go back to Paradise to crash in his hotel room in between them. Eat in the hotel restaurant and hang out at the saloon playing poker to kill the time. He always felt so damn restless when he wasn't being a gunslinger and the times when injuries had him sidelined were the worst. He saw much more of the town and its people than he ever wanted then.

Sometimes he'd see Amelia walking to and from the bank in the mornings and then later in the evenings. When Pierce had been around, she had started showing up on the street earlier in the mornings often before the sun rose over the hills and she'd head home late at night. No one really messed with her because she packed a gun and he'd heard she knew how to use it. Not that he knew much about her except that she had this cold businesslike demeanor all the time and liked to wear expensive dresses that looked very pretty on her.

A pretty woman like her…Ethan couldn't imagine why a husband would leave a wife like that unless times had gotten desperate. He'd never been married himself, never been close to it. Yes, he enjoyed his women, caroused more than a little bit but anytime a woman tried to get too close to him, wanted to know more about him, he backed away and moved on. It didn't hurt that most of the women he'd associated with had been of the same ilk, out looking for a good time with no expectations of more than that.

Made life a lot easier…to not have to worry about one woman and a family…Ethan knew if he had either or both of that, it'd mess him up good. He'd seen more than one renowned gunslinger go down because he'd been too busy thinking about his family every time he stood up to take a risk…or someone came after him to take advantage of any weaknesses.

Having a family to take care of…and worry about…that was the biggest weakness of all.

No, that wouldn't be part of his baggage, he'd remained sure of that. And besides, his own family, all that he remembered of it was Lucille and he hadn't seen her in ages. He'd gone to pick out a nice card for her to send to her and the children…she didn't need for money as she'd always lived the high life with her husband and even after he'd taken off on them, she still made more than enough money as an traveling entertainer to get by.

He heard footsteps and Amelia had joined him near the wire office. He glanced at her and she offered him a small smile.

"I hope you weren't offended by my words back there."

He shook his head.

"No…if you want to leave this town so bad, you should just leave…not stick around."

She sighed.

"It's not that easy," she said, "I've got the bank and until it sells…I just put too much of myself into it to just walk away. I've never been good at that I'm afraid."

He looked at her standing there in some nice looking blue number with lace trim and thought not.

"I thought you had a buyer?"

She shook her head.

"No…he doesn't think that Paradise's got enough going for it to make running a bank less risky."

Ethan smiled.

"Maybe he should have been here five years ago…"

She smiled back at him.

"Better yet ten," she said, "that's how long I've been here."

He arched his brows because that was before his time. But when he'd arrived, Paradise had been a thriving mining town overfilling with people arriving from all corners of the country, often with just their dreams of riches to sustain them. Reality hit soon enough and that was that very few struck it rich and most of that money was seized by those who did very little of the actual work in the mines. They just took advantage of the men and took them for everything they got whether it was charging exorbitant amounts for food, lodging and supplies or entering into deals with able bodied men to take all but a small percentage of everything they got.

"I was so young…hadn't been married that long," she said, "and it just seemed so different than anything I'd ever seen at least since I came to this country."

He'd known she'd been a foreigner because she sounded so different but he didn't know from where and he didn't ask. Most people he encountered didn't much like talking about their pasts.

"What about you?"

He glanced at her.

"I came here looking for work," he said, "I did security for the mines and then when they closed started taking up work elsewhere."

"Pierce's family, they're all upper society back East, they didn't approve of him marrying me," she said, "Maybe I should have listened to them."

He didn't respond to that. He could see why Pierce wanted to marry her, she was beautiful with dark hair that curled around her face and eyes which grabbed his attention.

"The other risk the buyer didn't want to deal with is the fact that my husband owns the bank on paper and since he's no where around…"

"He wouldn't buy the bank…"

She nodded.

"My husband could show up from nowhere and contest the sale," she said, "thought that's not likely."

He heard the wistfulness in her voice and doubted any of it was for her husband but by the fact that his desertion had bound her to Paradise unwillingly.

"But you're very busy here," he said, "That ought to take care of some of it."

She thought about it and nodded slightly.

"I went to the meeting on the Valentine's Day party at the hotel," she said, "but I'm not much in the spirit of it. Margaret has her own ideas about the holiday and what I need…she's always been soft on Pierce no matter what."

"You are going…?"

She just looked at him and then she remembered.

"I don't think so," she said, "Like I said I don't have any reason to celebrate…what about you?"

He shook his head.

"I'll be there but in the back room for the poker game," he said, "Scotty's promised us we won't be disturbed by the party."

"Sounds better than the party actually…"

His brows arched.

"You play poker?"

She smiled.

"Of course…that's how Pierce courted me when we met."

He didn't know that but he didn't know much else so he just digested that bit of information.

"Are ladies invited?"

Ethan honestly didn't know the answer to that but he didn't see why not. He was curious to know how good a player she'd turned out to be. He knew that Pierce had been quite skilled…but then most of that had been at cheating. Somehow he didn't think that his wife shared the same vice.

"Don't see why not…why don't you show up tonight and ask Scotty about it? As long as you bring some money to stake, I don't see him saying no…"

She considered that and then she nodded.

"Okay I'll do that…I'd better head to the bank to make sure it's still there…see you tonight."

He tipped his hat at her.

"See you then…"

He couldn't wait until night not that he knew why but he knew it would prove to be quite eventful especially after the other men found out a woman would be playing in their midst.

And if she turned out to be a card shark then there'd surely be fireworks.


	5. Chapter 5

Margaret just looked at her like she were crazy. Matilda threw her a shocked look as well. They both seemed amazed at her plans.

"You're doing what?"

Amelia suppressed a smile.

"I'm playing poker…with the men," she said, "That's more my speed anyway."

Margaret didn't appear to approve.

"You shouldn't be cavorting with the men," she said, "and gambling is a mortal sin."

Amelia smiled.

"It's just a game and my father taught it to me and then my husband…you remember him Pierce the one you seem to think was blameless in leaving me."

Margaret's lips pinched. But Amelia had grown tired of her constantly defending him as if he'd left because living with her had just been so unbearable when in reality, he was dodging men who he'd swindled with some real estate scheme. Someday she should sit down Margaret and the rest of the ladies' auxiliary committee and just tell them the entire story about Pierce. Then maybe they'd stop giving her lectures on how to be a good wife. It's not like Margaret had been married herself. What did she know about having to deal with a husband who turned out to be a cad?

"But a woman playing it with men," Margaret said, "That's scandalous."

Amelia sighed.

"Not really…it makes much more sense than going to this party," she said, "Valentine's Day is not something I feel like celebrating…at least not this year."

Margaret smiled.

"Well maybe when Pierce returns…"

Amelia pressed her lips together.

"He's not coming back Margaret and what makes you think I'd take him back?"

Margaret looked somewhat flustered.

"Well…well…you can't just keep him out of the house if he does come back."

Amelia put a hand on a hip.

"Says who?

Margaret couldn't answer that and besides Amelia had to get home so she could change into something nice for the poker game. Nothing too dressy, nothing imported but she was still a woman after all…just one who knew her way around a poker game. But since she didn't know who was playing she'd bring her gun to protect herself and her stake.

"Amelia…I'm sure your husband…made some mistakes."

That was putting it mildly, Amelia thought but she didn't feel like feeding the gossip mill. Honestly she thought most of the town looked at her as the woman who couldn't keep her man at home. But for the most part, she just ignored that and focused all her attention on the bank.

Tonight she hoped that she'd get a way from that for a while and show off her poker playing skills.

* * *

Ethan went to his hotel room and caught himself actually picking out one of his dressier outfits to wear to the saloon. Normally he didn't change his clothes at all unless he'd just gotten back to town from a job but tonight…he just wanted to dress up. He even shaved which he rarely did these days.

He'd get a bite to eat from Scotty's restaurant before heading into the back room where the men would be playing poker while the women had their Valentine's Day party.

Except one woman would be joining them.

When he'd asked Amelia if she'd go to the poker game, he didn't know if she'd accept, didn't even know if she knew how to play. If she turned out to be good, it might get the men upset.

It'd get her mind off of her missing husband for a while because he guessed she still thought about him. Pierce must have walked into a world of trouble to have run off like that but then what little he knew about him, he didn't like. He didn't like men who prided themselves on conning hard working people out of what was valuable to them and if it had been him that had been fleeced, he might have filled Pierce full of shot himself. Pierce had left Paradise not knowing or caring if any of his enemies came bothering his wife about what he stole from them. He knew Amelia could take care of herself, she made sure the whole town knew that but it still wasn't right.

Someone needed to take Pierce outside and give him a bit of shed justice if he did show his face here again.

Scotty was waiting for him when he came down for some supper. He raised his brows when he saw Ethan.

"You are heading to church?"

Ethan frowned.

"Don't think we got one here," he said, "well what's left of the old one. No, I'm here for the poker game."

Scotty scratched his head.

"You are dressing up for that?"

Ethan sat at the counter waiting for his food.

"Anything wrong with that," he said, "These aren't my church clothes."

"No nothing wrong Ethan…just haven't seen you looking like that since…I can't remember when."

Ethan sighed and fortunately Mary brought out some stew to serve to him.

"You look nice Ethan," she said, putting a plate of food before him.

It smelled delicious and he started eating. Scotty turned toward Mary.

"He's dressing up for the poker game tonight."

She smiled.

"That's alright though if you'd rather come to our party…more ladies there."

Scotty chuckled.

"Not the kind of ladies that would interest him," he said, "better stick to playing cards."

Mary scoffed.

"Doesn't sound that exciting…unless a fight breaks out…"

That hadn't happened recently and much less often than when Pierce showed up to the games. Ethan broke up one or two of those fights before someone broke Pierce. He never thanked Ethan for saving his skin either, always acting as if he were some kind of nuisance he didn't need. Ethan wondered if his thoughts had changed since he'd left Paradise with men coming after him in all directions.

"Amelia's coming…"

Mary nodded.

"To the party yes? She's on the organizing committee…"

Ethan took a bite of his stew.

"No…to the poker game…"

Scotty and Mary just looked at each other.

"What…well I never…a woman?"

Mary looked at her husband with bemusement.

"Why not…she might turn out to be better than the man and wouldn't that be a hoot?"

Scotty didn't look like he imagined that ever happening. But Ethan didn't know, he knew that if Amelia said she had great poker skills, he'd believe her. He looked forward to seeing her in action…and seeing her. Maybe she'd relax more and not be the detached and reserved businesswoman he saw most of the time. He knew there had to be more to her than that side she showed the people around her most of the time. He hadn't known her well before her husband took off…and when she'd told him a few things today, he'd been surprised.

He had a feeling he'd be more surprised tonight and that he wouldn't be the only one.

* * *

Amelia looked in the mirror after fixing her hair. It hung in curls loose around her shoulder and she didn't feel like wearing it up as deemed more proper. But she wanted to have some fun tonight and wouldn't be bringing much money to bet, just enough to stay in the game until she started winning.

She knew she would win because she'd learned poker to get closer to her nomadic father and she honed her skills so her husband who'd been courting her at the time would approve of her.

Tonight she'd play for herself, to forget about the world around her and where her husband wandered through it, for a while.

She left the house and headed to the saloon as the sun started to sink towards the surrounding hills, not knowing she was being followed.


	6. Chapter 6

Margaret grumbled as women began to arrive for the Valentine's Day Party. Not that there were many of them because Paradise had never been a town filled with women.

Not unless they were saloon girls or mining widows, wives of merchants or maybe a family here and there. Oh there had been one time during a particularly big boom period that Paradise had been filled with families. Back when there'd been a church and a schoolhouse but that had been some time ago. She remembered one day when a dashing young gentleman and his rather young wife rode into town in a rather nice looking buggy behind a team of horses. He'd been dressed in a distinguished suit, she wearing a pretty dress like the kind sold in a fancy dress shop that had been closed now for years. Pierce Lawson had promised from day one to make the town even greater and he and his wife with the strange accent bought a building and opened up a bank. Soon enough most of the people lined up to take advantage of it.

Margaret had a crush of sorts on Pierce even though he was years younger. She thought Amelia too young and way too spirited for him. And when she saw her handle a gun for the first time, how uncouth of a young woman looking to fit in upper society… When Amelia had shown up at the bank when her husband took off she had been subdued at first and Margaret heard whispers that she'd gone to the marshal to file a report a week after he'd been gone. Had she murdered her own husband in his bed and now was trying to cover her tracks, they discussed over the auxiliary meetings at the saloon restaurant until Amelia started showing up again. By then she knew that everyone in town was talking about her misfortune and how she couldn't keep a man happy enough to stick around. Those younger women, they just lack the skills and when Amelia walked in the room, they'd stop whispering and act like nothing happened.

But now Amelia had gone off and joined the poker game with the men. Margaret pressed her lips hard together looking over at Matilda who was with Mary pouring the punch into glasses for the guests.

"I don't understand Ms Lawson but then I never did…since she first showed up."

Matilda nodded.

"I know…Pierce he was such a gentleman…genteel and respectable," she said, "I simply refuse to believe what some say about his unscrupulous business practices."

Margaret nodded.

"I don't believe the rumors either about him. It must be about her. She's awfully young for a sophisticated city man like him. Girls her age doesn't know a thing about holding onto a man."

Mary smiled.

"I don't know about that Margaret. Amelia seems very sharp, and we all know she did most or all of the work at the bank. Her husband always had other things to do…like his business ventures."

Matilda frowned.

"I remember that. Remember he wanted to bring live theater to Paradise?"

Margaret just shook her head and Mary frowned at her.

"What's wrong with that?"

Margaret fiddled with some of the decorations on the table.

"Oh nothing…except that men don't much like sitting and watching something happen that's not about fighting unless their wives make them."

Matilda nodded. Mary shook her head.

"Scotty's the one who likes live theater…when he spent some time in San Francisco before we got married."

Margaret and Matilda always thought that Scotty was a bit off. He loved to bake even when he didn't have to; in fact he'd made most of the decadent desserts at their party which neither woman understood.

"He just seemed to be the nicest man and Paradise needed a love story."

Matilda nodded in agreement while Mary picked up one of her husband's cupcakes and nibbled on it. She thought she might sneak out in a little bit to go check up on the poker game.

* * *

Ethan sat across from Tiny but the game hadn't yet started. They were talking about some news that the Garretson brothers might be returning to town to create some mayhem. Ethan didn't worry too much about it, as rumors always flew around about the outlaw band this time of year. So far, they'd stuck to places like Virginia City and Reno to do their robbing, probably thinking picking wealth from this town right now would be like plucking feathers out of a bald chicken.

That made his life easier because he could relax a bit before he took his next job. He'd been offered a lot of money to hunt another gang, run by Dylan Daggett who he'd heard a lot about in the past several years. Another gang that stuck to preying on bigger cities, leaving the smaller towns to the rookies.

"You ready to play?"

Ethan looked up at Amos who sat there expectantly. He was a lousy poker player who couldn't bluff to save his life. Easy pickings so Ethan didn't know why he was so eager to play and part with his money. Business hadn't exactly been booming lately for him or anyone else.

"Ameila's not here yet."

The other men all groaned at Ethan's words and he knew they hated having a woman in their midst especially one like Amelia who could fleece them all. Ethan knew if he wasn't careful, she'd get some of the money from his last job. He had stashed enough of it in her bank in case his sister, Lucy needed some money for her children. But most of the time, she made decent money even after her husband had left her.

Ethan had never liked the man but he stayed out of Lucy's life just like she stayed out of his, and he knew he'd not been entirely honest with her about what he did for a living. She must really think he owned his own store but then how would she find out otherwise? She was someplace else far away always traveling around never even coming close to setting foot in Paradise.

He just didn't want her worrying about him like she did when they were growing up orphans with only each other. Suddenly he heard footsteps and he looked up and saw her step into the room. Not looking as if she were hesitant but feeling comfortable…whatever life she'd had Ethan guessed that men played a large part in it. There was so much he didn't know about her including where she came from originally because it wasn't this country, not the way she sounded when she spoke.

"Am I late?"

The men all looked at her wearing a very stylish dress with ruffles. She wore her hair in a bun up above her neck and Ethan thought she looked beautiful. But then she always looked like that. Part of it was that women her age were scarce particularly those who were unattached which she had been for some time now. Ethan figured her husband wasn't coming back anytime soon. Oh he was pretty sure Pierce was alive but that he'd stay far away from here until the coast was clear.

Ethan shook his head.

"Come sit down…you look very nice tonight."

She smiled but didn't say anything as she took her seat.

"So this is just regular poker?"

Amos frowned and looked at Ethan.

"What'd she mean by that? What other kinds are there?"

Amelia's smile broadened.

"Oh you'd be surprised Amos," she said, "We play it a lot differently where I come from than here."

That seemed to satisfy the men and they didn't press for details. Ethan had often wondered where she was from originally, where she'd been born but he never thought to ask her.

Amos cleared his throat.

"Well, we're not playing any…foreign card games in Paradise so if you don't know the rules…you can join the ladies at the party down the hall."

Amelia just looked at him, her lips pursed but Ethan could see the amusement in her eyes.

"No…no this version will do just fine," she said, "Pierce taught me how to play it while he was courting me."

The other men just looked at each other and then looked at Scotty to deal out the cards. Ethan took his hand of cards while watching Amelia pick up her own and study them. Her face revealed nothing…he couldn't tell if she liked or disliked her cards. Then Scotty asked Tiny if he wanted to swap cards in his hand and of course Tiny did…he had the worst luck in the part of poker left to chance but Ethan knew never to underestimate his friend.

Amelia paused and then traded in two cards for new ones and Ethan did the same thing as Stanley began talking about whether or not the price of gold going up again would lure someone into buying the mine and reopening it. Ethan didn't think that too likely in the near future.

He won the first hand but it'd come down to him and Amelia and that's when he knew she'd more than just picked up lessons from her wayward husband. She smiled at him as Scotty dealt more cards. The other men picked them up and the game began in earnest…when it hit them that the woman in their midst could more than keep pace with them. She could possibly outplay him which put more than a few manhoods on the line.

Ethan thought this could turn out to be an interesting night.


	7. Chapter 7

Ethan watched Amelia gather up her winnings to add to her growing pile and knew he was looking at a ringer. Someone who came off as being less skilled at something than they were in reality and Amelia had that in spades. The men around her were growing more bug eyed with each round as she won more and more of their money.

Pierce had fleeced them for all their cash through cheating at poker but Amelia hadn't done anything like that. Ethan had been watching all of her moves carefully and saw nothing dishonest or shifty. What he saw was sheer brilliance and she deftly used it against her opponents. Not that she was rude about it either; she smiled at each man as she pulled the money towards her thanking them.

They weren't mad yet more like amused at her, that a mere woman could outplay them all but Ethan worried that this joviality might fade and turn into something more akin to frustration and resentment.

"I'll take two more cards," Amelia said cheerfully enough.

Tiny handed her two more cards and she didn't betray any emotion when she examined them before slipping them with the others in her hand. Damn the woman could bluff like a pro too. Ethan's own hand didn't look that promising and Tiny's offerings couldn't fix that much so he folded out early and watched Amelia and Amos dispatch Tiny and Charlie before they were the only two left. Amelia put some more money in the pot.

"I'll take two more…"

Tiny gave her two cards and took hers. Amos bit his lip examining his own hand wondering what to do.

"I'll…take one."

He did and Ethan saw the hint of a smile on his face. Amos never had been good at bluffing himself. Amelia just took one and then looked expectantly over at her opponent. Waiting for him to make his next move.

Amos just smiled and said, he was ready to stand. He slapped his hand on the table and showed off two pairs. He looked triumphant so sure that Amelia wouldn't be able to beat that.

She furrowed her brow and studied her own hand for a while and Ethan couldn't tell if she liked or hated it, whether she'd lose the round or take the money. She finally put her hand down and Charlie saw it first.

His eyes widened.

"Damn that's a straight."

She nodded with a twinkle in her eye.

"I believe it is Charlie."

She collected her money while they all stared at her. Ethan saw her glance up at him and he smiled. She just pursed her lips and then Tiny started dealing again.

* * *

Margaret and Matilda kept checking up on the poker match when they thought the men weren't looking.

"I can't believe that," she said, "Those men allowing a woman to beat them."

Matilda nodded, looking equally disgraced. After all, the women in town who were left were supposed to come to their Valentine's Day party not fraternize with the men. Not to mention that Amelia was a married woman whose husband could have fallen upon some serious misfortune and she didn't seem to be worried about poor Pierce.

Mary smiled after bringing in some more punch.

"It looks like she's just playing better than them," she said, "Scotty took in some cupcakes in there and she'd had a stack of money that she won from them."

Matilda shook her head.

"What's she going to do taking the men's money?"

Mary shrugged.

"Buy herself something nice, put it away to save," she said, "Amelia's been through a rough time with her husband disappearing like that."

Margaret hissed in obvious disapproval.

"She should be at home missing him," she said, "This just isn't proper behavior for a lady."

Matilda sighed deeply.

"You're obviously forgetting what she was like when she and her husband arrived," she said, "Amelia obviously didn't have much training in being a lady."

Margaret nodded.

"She rode horses, carried a gun and she bossed her husband around," she said, "when she was barely grown herself."

Mary had heard the stories about how Pierce and Amelia had ridden into town and he'd already had a golden tongue and a head filled with plans to make Paradise a boom town. But the town had seen better days back then and had been rising on its own with the price of gold. Still, people looked at him in amusement first while Amelia managed the bank they had purchased. She'd quieted down for the most part working long hours and not attending many social functions at first…until her husband had wanted to be seen to make connections with other people in the town with money to spend. He of course had plenty of ideas on what to do with that money. Mary didn't quite trust him though she'd liked Amelia on sight. She knew there had to be more to Pierce's leaving then Amelia even told the marshal when she'd reported him missing.

He'd not been seen since in nearly two years and Amelia had appeared to have been resigned to the fact that she might never see him again. Time to move on, and make a life for herself in Paradise because the bank tied her to this town…because she couldn't legally sell it. Wives didn't own property only their husbands did and unless he turned up dead…but he hadn't turned up at all.

"It's not easy being her," she said, "People gossip about her all the time when they have nothing better to do or say about anything."

Margaret looked taken aback when she said that.

"Well I never…you really think that Amelia will ever fit in here," she said, "I see her when I'm working at the bank and she wears fancy dresses but she's not a lady. She does business like a man."

Mary understood that being a businesswoman herself, wearing the pants in her family so to speak and having a difficult time being accepted on her merits rather than just as Scotty's wife. She'd had her own hardships to bear, been subjected to gossip too about a man who had left town much like Pierce had done some years ago.

"She's very intelligent, she works hard and contributes to this town," she said, "and she's beating the britches off the men…"

Matilda recoiled.

"Oh that's just so improper," she said, "Scandalous… to say such things."

Mary wanted to laugh at the old spinster thinking she just needed to relax. Maybe she should have put some whisky in the punch bowl.

* * *

They took a break from the poker match hoping to break Amelia's momentum and throw her off her game.

Amelia went to get herself some scotch. She'd been enjoying herself immensely playing the game that she loved and forgetting everything else for a while. The men hadn't complained too much that she was winning though she sensed more tension in the room than when they had started. They had thought she wouldn't be able to keep pace with them but they'd been wrong.

Only Ethan hadn't looked all that surprised and she caught him watching her in interest. Probably because he might think a woman playing poker a novelty at least one who wore expensive dresses. She'd stood by the bar watching as Rosie and Scarlett two of the saloon girls were sidling up to two men including the one who had accosted her earlier. But she'd just ignore him and given that he seemed more focused on Rosie, she knew he hadn't seen her.

Ethan walked up to her.

"You play a good game," he said, "Surprised more than a few of them."

She looked straight at him.

"What about you?"

His face looked lean and handsome, dressed in a mustache and beard but his eyes were expressive and betrayed his emotions in ways that maybe he didn't guess.

"I seen your husband play and you're just as skilled but not a cheat."

She processed that assessment thinking it pretty apt. She harbored no illusions about Pierce anymore.

"Thank you…so did you send your gift to Lucy your sister?"

Ethan's face changed and she saw then how much he cared about his sister. Maybe his only one, she didn't know anything really about his background other that he was a gunslinger who'd killed men in his line of work.

He looked down at his drink almost shy but she didn't think that fit him.

"Not yet…she travels a lot with her children," he said, "I know she has a house in St. Louis but she might be on the road."

"She'll still see it when she gets back," Amelia said, "She'll still enjoy it just as much. I imagine she misses you."

Ethan nodded slightly.

"Maybe…it's been years since we were close."

"She's your sister," she said, "That'll never change."

"You miss him?"

His question came so suddenly she almost caught her breath.

"Miss…you mean my husband," she said, "I'm not certain that's the right word to use."

"I didn't really know him well," Ethan said, "but I'm sure he's alive out there somewhere."

She chuckled.

"I know he's alive," she said, "He's not able to face things head on Mr. Cord. He runs away from confrontation. Something that must seem foreign to you given your line of work."

She tried not to sound judgmental but couldn't hide it. But sometimes she didn't understand him at all. No need to do so really, he didn't spend much time in Paradise.

Still she found herself wanting to understand him.


	8. Chapter 8

Amelia kept up her winning streak and with each round, the men at the table with her began looking at her more closely. She knew they had their suspicions at why she'd been playing so well and winning all their money.

But the truth was that she had always enjoyed the game and her husband had tutored her well. She had beaten him when she'd gotten really good at it. Most of the time he'd had a good sense of humor about it but she could tell some of these men were losing theirs.

"I think I'll quit now before I bet away my latest pay," Charlie said, "Good night."

The deputy got up to leave the room. He took one of Scotty's cupcakes before he left the room. Amos shook his head.

"I can't believe one player can be this lucky or this good."

Amelia just smiled at him.

"It's not beginner's luck if that's what you're thinking."

"I'm not thinking that exactly."

"Oh come on Amos, you think just because I'm a woman I can't beat you all at poker," she said, "What kind of attitude is that?"

Amos and Stan looked taken aback. Tiny just shrugged and Ethan just winked at Amelia.

"You heard what the lady said," he said, "She played a better game than you did and that's why she won."

Amelia felt her skin flush when he looked at her. No reason for her to feel that way, she barely knew him. He was handsome enough in a way different from her husband and he'd grown into a man while keeping part of the boy. Much different than her husband who had that youthful exuberance but had never really grown up.

Amos scowled.

"How do we know she's not cheating? Like her husband did," he said, "After all if he taught her the game she must know all his tricks."

Amelia folded her arms.

"I do not cheat…I won fair and square because I play better than you do."

Amos just shook his head as if that weren't possible, that a woman could ever beat a man at anything. She'd run into that attitude often enough including when she'd first starting managing the bank. She had to have her husband spend some time there so that she'd get her first customers….make him look like he ran things until it became more difficult to make it look like that. Pierce had grown bored with banking and had moved onto other pursuits like land speculation. Amelia suspected that had been by he left town suddenly.

"I don't know about that," Amos grumbled, "but I'm done playing and I still think you're up to something."

Amelia just watched him get up from the table.

"I might join the ladies' party," Amos said, before leaving the room.

Amelia just watched him go and looked at the rest of them.

"I'm done too," she said, scooping up all the money.

The others just looked at her.

"You mean you're not going to give us a chance to win back her money?"

She smiled at Stan.

"Another day," she said, "I think Margaret and Matilda want me to make an appearance at the party."

Stan grumbled.

"That's not right is it?"

The others just looked at him. Ethan picked up his own winnings which didn't match those of Amelia.

"I'm done too," he said, "I'm going to the bar get something to drink."

Stan stood up and folded his arms.

"I want my money back," he said, "she must have cheated."

Amelia just wanted to roll her eyes.

"I don't cheat…at anything," she said, "Look whatever you might think of my husband…Pierce, I'm not like him. I play fair."

Stan snarled his lip.

"Like hell you do," he said, "But then he ran out on you didn't he?"

Amelia sighed.

"Look it's time for me to go to the party," she said, "Excuse me."

Stan put his hand on her to stop her. Ethan started to react but Amelia just grabbed his hand got it off of her and twisted it behind his back. That shocked him and it surprised the others.

"Like I said, excuse me."

She let him go and he fell into his chair with a thud and she smiled at the rest of them and walked on out of there.

* * *

"Did you see that?"

Matilda looked at Margaret.

"I most certainly did," she said, "I told you there's some ruffian in that woman. I don't know where she came from but it must have been some god awful place."

Margaret shook her head.

"Maybe her husband got tired of making a lady out of her."

Mary poured herself some punch.

"She's a lady," she said, "She's very nice, she's just…"

They all looked to see Amelia join them with a smile.

"Hi…I thought I'd join your party."

Matilda frowned.

"Is the poker game over?"

"For me it's over," she said, "Mary these cakes look exquisite…"

She picked one u and took a bite finding it delicious.

"Where'd you get the recipe?"

Mary smiled looking very pleased.

"Out of a newspaper when I was in Carson City some years ago," she said, "I'm thinking of putting it on the menu."

Amos walked in with a drink in hand.

"Hi ladies…may I join you?"

Matilda coughed, putting her hand by her mouth.

"Why…yes…if you'd like."

Amos had been married but no one really knew what happened to his wife. Matilda had always had a bit of an eye for him but he'd always been focused on making as much money as possible so he could take it and start a business elsewhere. Amelia wasn't too fond of the man but she understood that drive very well.

"Amelia here is a bit of a card shark," Amos said, "She took almost all my money."

Matilda and Margaret looked at each other.

"Oh dear," Margaret said, "Amelia do you think that was appropriate?"

Amelia just got a glass of punch and sipped it thoughtfully.

"Not ladylike enough for you perhaps," she said, "but I enjoyed it and I did well."

Matilda harrumphed.

"Really Amelia, if your husband were here…"

Amelia's eyes hardened and her body tensed for a moment.

"But he's not and despite what you might think," she said, "Him leaving had nothing to do with me. Actually he got himself in a spot of difficulty which I'm sure has been the topic of speculation."

Margaret grumbled.

"I really don't think…"

Amelia sighed.

"No you don't…look I don't have my husband here but I've still got a life to live," she said, "I've got bills to pay just like you do and I work very hard…"

Matilda smiled at her.

"We didn't say that but for a woman like yourself to be gallivanting with men…"

Amelia pursed her lips, some amusement in her eyes.

"Gallivanting," she said, "Would it still be considered gallivanting if I were losing?"

"It's just not done," Matilda said, "What will Mr. Lawson think when he comes back?"

Amelia folded her arms.

"Pierce might not be coming back and if he does…he has nothing to say about what I've done or will do to make a life for myself…until I leave…"

She felt herself getting heated and then she glanced up and saw him standing there in the doorway. Ethan leaning against it, watching her and she couldn't read the expression on his face.

So she fell quiet and walked towards the doorway.

"I think I need something a bit stronger to drink than punch."

She walked right past him and he watched her go.

* * *

Ethan had won some money playing poker but not nearly as much as the woman who'd just walked past him obviously with a spot of anger in her. He hadn't heard much of the conversation and he wasn't an eavesdropper but they had been talking about her husband and he guessed that was a sore spot for her. He imagined it would be after the way he'd disappeared. Not that anyone would know, Amelia had a strong thread of stoicism inside her.

Amos just looked at him.

"She's got to learn how to behave like a proper lady," he said, "And she should be banned from future pokers games."

Ethan's mouth twitched.

"You can't do that," he said, "It's not in the rules."

"Why not…and we can change the damn rules…"

Ethan scratched his jaw line looking at the obviously piqued man.

"There won't be any rule changes," he said, "Now if you excuse me…"

He left them following Amelia to the bar.


	9. Chapter 9

Amelia got herself a glass of something much stronger than punch. She felt exhilarated after playing poker with a bunch of men and winning all that cash. So much better than hanging out with Margaret and the rest of them at the party in the other room for ladies…proper ones who knew their place.

That had never been her of course. Amelia had been headstrong since the time of birth, young and impetuous but she'd worked hard from the cradle. She hadn't known what it'd been like to have money until she came to this country but she didn't spend much of it. She just stayed in the background and watched other girls her age go out and eat at fancy places wearing stylish dresses. She dreamed about having that all herself someday but she knew no one would give it to her. She'd have to work hard for it and prove she was just as capable as any man. She knew that now in the wake of Pierce's desertion of their marriage.

It'd been hard at first; not really believing he would have left though there'd been so many signs of it. He'd been spending more and more hours away from their home, not showing up for the dinners she prepared for them. Then when he did show up there'd been fighting. There hadn't been any of the…her cheeks flushed…that part of their marriage since…she couldn't remember. Gambling on land speculation and poker games had been his real love and not her.

She'd been way too young when she married him. She hadn't been much older than Claire when she showed up in Paradise full of the hopes that her husband had fed her of a better more prosperous life. They had bought the bank cheap but she'd done almost all the work. She'd been the strong one in the marriage though she'd barely been grown up and he the weak one. It'd never work she realized now but she remained married to him because not enough time had passed for a divorce. He'd never returned and that left her stuck here with a bank she couldn't officially own that kept her tied to a town that almost felt like a prison at times.

But right now, she'd had a fun time playing poker with the men and with Ethan. She'd never really liked him much, thought he brought danger to the town in the form of dangerous people welding guns. Everyone always ran for cover before the gunfire rang out awakening the town from its quieter state. She'd scolded him more than once over it and he retorted back to her about it being just about business.

Tonight she guessed they'd declared a truce of sorts because after all, he had gotten rid of that man who harassed her because of what Pierce had stolen from him. She'd grown somewhat used to men like that showing up occasionally trying to get her to pay them back what they felt her husband owed them. Most likely they were probably right but it had nothing to do with her. Pierce had kept her so much in the dark that after he left when she found out more about him, she realized she'd married a stranger.

Ethan stood next to her to fill his drink and glanced over at her.

"You play a great game," he said, "You heading to the party?"

She shrugged.

"I don't know," she said, "I'm not one who fits very well at parties like that. Too much of a reminder about what can happen I think…they think it's my fault…"

He just looked at her.

"Your fault…?"

She looked at him and realized she probably said too much. She just sipped her scotch on down and then smiled at him.

"Nothing…"

He leaned against the bar. Amelia looked all charged up and he wasn't about to tell her about what the men said about banning her from future poker matches. She sighed putting her empty glass on the counter.

"It's just that Margaret and Matilda have this image built up of Pierce that's not true," she said, "Like I did something wrong and forced him to leave when it wasn't like that at all."

Ethan just listened quietly sipping his drink.

"Every day at the bank Margaret asks when he's coming back…as if I'd know when I know nothing and at this point I don't care."

She ordered another scotch and sipped it more slowly. She was a sensible drinker and never let herself get carried away with it.

"He's still alive out there," Ethan said, "I'm sure he'll turn up."

She took a bigger sip this time.

"I don't want to see him again," she said, "I've moved on with my life…got the bank going in the right direction and I've just won a fortune playing poker."

Margaret walked out and when she saw the two of them together, her lips pressed together tightly and Amelia knew she didn't like it.

"Amelia, why don't you join us in the back for our party?"

She just smiled back at the spinster.

"I'll be there…I'm talking to Mr. Cord for a moment."

"But…"

"I'll be back there," Amelia said, "Maybe we'll both be back there."

Ethan didn't look thrilled with the idea of going to the party she noticed quickly enough.

"Oh Ethan I'm sorry…I didn't even ask you if you wanted to join us. Some of the men have mostly for the refreshments but you don't have to come."

Ethan sipped his own drink thoughtfully.

"Mary's cooking right?"

She smiled at that with a nod.

"She's done most of her prized desserts," she said, "Very tasty and maybe worth listening to a bunch of gossip by the ladies."

He sighed but he found himself wanting to be where she went, not knowing why. He and Amelia barely knew each other, rarely spoke but she seemed to have loosened up a bit from her stern no nonsense business demeanor. He knew it wasn't easy for a woman to survive alone in a town like this one but she'd not only done that but thrived. Business at the bank had never been better which was more than could be said for most of the town.

"Okay…if you go with me."

That surprised her in a not so bad way. She nodded at him again.

"Okay when we finish our drinks, let's go on back…I'm hoping to try the chocolate cake."

They put down their empty glasses a few moments later and then walked to the back room. They passed two men who eyed them closely while sitting by the bar but didn't pay much notice. Margaret and Matilda were both talking to Lila another woman at the back of the room while Mary smiled as she saw Ethan and Amelia approach.

"You both are here," she said, "Scotty's over there Ethan with Amos if you want to talk to them. We've been talking about dress styles back East which probably doesn't interest you."

Amelia smiled.

"I'd rather talk business than fashion," she said, "but I'm done with both for the day. I will try that cake. It looks delicious."

She went to get a slice followed by Ethan who served himself as well. They both went to a corner where they'd stand together while eating their dessert.

"So what about you Ethan," she said, "I know you got a sister but is there someone special out there?"

Honestly she didn't know much about his personal life, as he didn't spend much time in town but that didn't mean he didn't have one. She didn't think he was married but maybe like her he'd tried it once.

But he just looked at her not answering.

"You married?"

He shook his head.

"Never been…my lifestyle doesn't much suit it."

"Fair enough…I did it once and I'm not sure it fit my lifestyle any better," she said, "You have a woman you're seeing…when you're not out gun slinging."

He sighed.

"Been a few here and there," he said, "but most don't have the patience for a man who's always on the move."

"I'm sorry…"

He shrugged.

"I have a good life…make good money," he said, "I have my sister Lucy and her children are my nieces and nephews. I get cards every once in a while."

"Must be very nice," she said, "I haven't heard from my family in a long time. They're so far away I can't even imagine it."

"You miss them?"

She paused, biting her lip. She'd done that a lot lately after Pierce had left but she knew when she left her native country she wouldn't be coming back.

"Sometimes…but it's been so long," she said, "They're more like memories than alive to me though I wish the best for them. My life is here now…"

She felt resolute about that now when it hadn't always been that way.

"What about you? You ever think about settling down, not doing so much violence?"

He sighed.

"Amelia I only do what's necessary."

"Okay still do you ever feel like doing anything else?"

He just looked at her trying to come up with an answer when suddenly he heard loud voices outside the room back by the bar.


	10. Chapter 10

Amelia watched as Ethan left her to deal with those loud voices. Was a fight breaking out by the bar? It couldn't be over the poker game because that had ended and she knew that the fights among the women at the party would be to a minimum thanks to Margaret and Matilda. She followed Ethan out to where he'd come between two men who were going at it, rolling on the floor knocking into chairs and tables which sent other customers scattering. Scotty tried to break them up but he wound up slipping and falling on the floor dazed.

Ethan had pulled one man on his feet and asked him what it was about while keeping a firm grip on him. Of course the lanky man with the red hair pointed at a bald man with a crooked nose, probably broken a couple of times during a lifetime spent fighting.

"He stole my woman."

The bald man folded his arms.

"She came to me willingly," he said, "I don't have to steal any woman. If he can't keep her happy…"

Ethan sighed as the other man got on his feet and he kept a careful look on him to make sure he wasn't going to throw a swing at the redheaded man. He didn't recognize either one of them, they must be passing through.

The redheaded man spit what looked like a piece of tooth.

"He's lying…I had Stella for the night," he said, "She was all ready to take my money when this guy grabbed her arm."

Ethan glanced around for Stella who he knew to be a lithe woman with long blonde curly hair who had instigated men to fight over her for amusement. He didn't know why she did that but usually by the time the brawl had started in full force she was out of the room with another customer.

"It's that holiday…what's it called and I was celebrating by coming by here and meeting up with a pretty lady."

The bald guy snorted.

"So was I and she liked me fine when he showed up and tried to take her."

Ethan cleared his throat and both men looked at him.

"Fellows…you're new in these parts I can see."

Both nodded.

"Then you should know a few things," Ethan continued, "It seems to me that Stella here likes to get men to fight over her and then she picks another fellow to spend time with."

They both looked at him dumbfounded and then the redheaded guy got angry.

"You mean…she's trying to rip us off?"

The bald guy looked put out too.

"Why that little…"

Ethan put up his hand before the man could finish.

"Now hold on…I know you're both steamed, I'd be too but there are other ladies here to spend time with besides Stella…Tell you what…you talk to them and I'll go have a word with Stella…"

The redheaded man frowned.

"Now…?"

"No, after she's…done which shouldn't be too long," Ethan said, "Now have some of that chocolate cake that Scotty the bartender made. It's very tasty."

The men grumbled but they went to go get pieces of the cake from a grateful Scotty. Ethan turned towards Amelia who arched a brow at him.

"Well done Mr. Cord," she said, "and you didn't have to draw your gun."

He sighed.

"Most of the time I don't," he said, "Being a gunslinger is 90% talk, though most people only remember the rest of it."

She shrugged.

"Hard not to…when the town gets shot up and bodies litter the streets."

She saw the look in his eyes change and she knew she hit a sore spot.

"Amelia…"

She put a hand up.

"I'm not here to argue it but it's fact Mr. Cord," she said, "There's violence in your line of work."

He nodded, conceding that because there was no way of arguing against it. Too much violence and as he'd been thinking about Lucy and her children who lived many miles away from his world, he'd been grateful that as much as he missed them, they were nowhere close enough to see it or get caught up in it.

"Fair enough…but managing a bank," he said, "That can bring danger as well. Banks attract outlaws of all stripes who have get rich quick schemes."

"I know and I take precautions to prevent that," she said, "I've been lucky so far but rest assured Mr. Cord if anyone does come in my bank to rob it, I will shoot back."

"You're armed…"

She nodded.

"Why of course," she said, "I used to work late there many nights when my husband…was…busy with his own work and having my gun there and ready made me feel safer."

He digested that. She looked petite to him, small boned but looking into her eyes, he knew that inside of her was steel rod. He didn't know much about her background or where she'd gotten it from but she definitely had it.

"Sounds smart…"

They stood there by the bar after it had gotten more peaceful with some men sprinkled about talking amongst themselves.

"My father taught me how to shoot," she said, "Mostly at snakes that can kill within minutes of biting you and some animals for food when we're out traveling."

"What about people?"

She smiled.

"I've ran into more than my share of rough characters," she said, "but so far this town while it's much more different than what I knew…it's not been necessary to shoot much."

He seemed to think about that some and she took in the tall lean figure whose clothes molded to his body in ways that appealed to women she imagined. Not to her of course because he just wasn't her type at all. No, certainly not and besides Pierce hadn't been gone that long…two years wasn't that long when you thought about it and she was still legally married to him. Still, the way his hair had grown long enough to hold a slight curl and her husband had never had a mustache or beard. She wondered…no she wasn't going to go down that road with a gunslinger that killed men for a living.

"Where'd you learn how to shoot Mr. Cord?"

He paused looking down at his hands that could grip the handle of a gun so quickly, so capably and she'd seen him do it more than once.

"When I was growing up, it became a necessary skill for survival…"

He didn't elaborate and she saw the glint of pain in his eyes for a moment before he put those words behind him.

"When you were with your sister…the one you were looking for a gift?"

He paused and then shook his head.

"We were separated by then."

She digested that and she knew then that whatever his childhood had been like, it hadn't been an easy one. Something had happened to lead this man hardened by experiences into picking up that gun the first time for hire.

"Oh…"

"You have any brothers or sisters?"

She nodded.

"Yeah three brothers and a sister," she said, "One sister left there and I had a brother who came to America before I did."

"You've seen him at all?"

She shook her head.

"No…I have no idea what happened to him or if he's still alive. I suppose that's true for a lot of us who immigrated over here."

She hadn't thought about Royal in a long time. Their father had sent him over here to try to make a better, more honest life for himself than he had back home, getting into all types of trouble. Margaret walked up to them and just looked at them and Amelia sensed the disapproval.

"Why don't you come and join the others," she said, "the games are starting."

Amelia was almost afraid to ask.

"Games…?"

Margaret nodded.

"Oh yes…it goes with the holiday," she said, "They should be fun."

Amelia sighed and she walked in to join them followed by Ethan who looked a bit leery of what might be waiting for him.


	11. Chapter 11

The games turned out to be harmless enough. But they were for either people who had sweethearts parked in another room or people longing for one. Amelia was in neither category. She had a husband who had taken off on her for parts unknown and didn't want to be found at least by her.

Not to mention all the people he'd scammed who came to her as if she'd pay them all back for their losses as a result of her husband's career. But she watched, sipping some of the punch and trying some of Scotty's little cakes.

Ethan didn't look that comfortable either. He stood there as if he'd break something if he moved too suddenly. She didn't keep track of his socializing including with women. She'd seen him spending time at the saloon talking with some of the girls working there but since he only spent his time in between his jobs in town that didn't provide much opportunity to see him at all.

Margaret just looked at the two of them disapprovingly.

"Really you cannot stand to the side like that. You need to participate."

Amelia felt less than thrilled. Really the poker game had been much more fun than hanging out with a group of spinsters. Her situation was so much different. After all, she'd gotten married but what good had it done her? She'd been hurt by the man she married ultimately and frustrated with him long before that. She'd still been a young girl when she married Pierce trying to escape her doldrums life and part of it had been exciting and unpredictable and she'd enjoyed it and him. But now she had been left behind chained to an obligation that didn't even belong to her…that could never belong to her under the law…because she was a woman.

"I don't know how to play."

Margaret just shook her head at her.

"It's not that hard," she said, "It's just imagining what the perfect beau would be like…"

Amelia almost coughed up her punch.

"Excuse me?"

Margaret smiled.

"Why yes, we all sit together and try to come up with the best candidates."

Amelia glanced over at Ethan who looked as lost as she did but she saw the glimmer of amusement in his eyes. Well maybe he saw fun in it but she didn't want to be reminded that she'd so misjudged the man that she'd believed to be perfect. That perfection didn't amount to much in the reality of day and two people married together who were so fundamentally different.

"Really I don't think…"

Margaret looked like she disapproved of her again but Amelia had gotten used to that pretty quickly even before Pierce bailed on her.

"No…there's no point in doing this," Amelia said, "Imagining something is just that…it's not reality and it's nothing that a real person can live up to anyway."

Margaret frowned but Ethan looked attentive. She really didn't imagine that his interests lay in such topics. If it didn't involve guns and cards and chasing around fugitive outlaws, then no, it probably wouldn't…but then she remembered how he had been looking for something in Axelrod's store to send to Lucky and her children.

He did love his sister but had he ever loved another woman? She didn't know enough about him to answer that question. But his lifestyle didn't mesh well with being married to one woman and having a family any more than hers did. Maybe he'd been smarter than her in avoiding the whole thing, keeping true to his own nature. Maybe she hadn't been suitable for marriage, after all she'd always been a fiery bellied woman who spoke her own mind and she knew she could be quite stubborn. She had been too strong and too willful for him to tame and he'd been too flighty and too weak minded for her to bolster up into a man.

"Listen I know you are a married woman and I know he'll be back…"

Amelia just sighed looking at Margaret who for whatever reason harbored fantasies about her own husband that she couldn't muster up.

"I'm a married woman whose husband will never be back."

Margaret recoiled.

"Well I never…if you act like that it could be true after all."

Amelia looked away from her and headed back to the punch bowl needing a refill and wishing it had been something stronger. She really didn't need this old busybody lecturing her and judging her about her own marriage.

She felt someone tap her shoulder and she looked up at Ethan.

"What is it?"

He didn't speak immediately. They weren't used to dealing with each other after all, before recently they hadn't spoken more than a few words to each other at a time.

"I'm going out to get some fresh air," he said, "Would you like to join me?"

Amelia glanced over at a scandalized Margaret and smiled at him.

"Okay…I'm almost ready to head on home anyway," she said, "It's been a long day and it can only get worse if I stay here."

Margaret just sniffed and walked back to join the others including Matilda who handed her a glass of punch.

* * *

Amelia and Ethan walked out of the saloon into the crisp breeze that wafted through town. She felt it brush her cheeks. He tucked his hands in his pockets as they walked down the street.

"Sorry about that back there," she said, "but Margaret does love to go on about the virtues of my wayward husband."

Ethan didn't say anything as they kept walking.

"I'm sorry if this is boring you…most of the time it bores me."

He glanced over at her.

"He might come back when his enemies back off looking for him."

She shrugged.

"I don't care what he does at this point," she said, "It's been two years since I've seen him and it's time to move on."

"You have the bank."

"Only until I can find a way to legally sell it," she said, "It should be mine. I made it what is now not him."

She remembered how disinterested he'd been in the bank that he'd purchased with money that they had earned on a mine strike in another town. But while he'd put in some hours early on, he had pretty much left it up to her. He had his own pursuits after all and they had gotten him into trouble from almost the time he'd gotten started in Paradise only she hadn't known it.

"You manage it well. Have lot of customers."

She smiled at him.

"It's only the only bank in town," she said, "Not much choice but thank you. I work hard at it. I just hope I can find a way to sell it."

They walked down past the marshal's office.

"Where you plan to head…once you sell the bank?"

She paused, stopping for a moment. She'd thought about it often enough, she'd dreamed about the kind of life she wanted to live, the places she wanted to see. She'd shared some of that with Pierce.

"I don't know. I always wanted to go to San Francisco again," she said, "When I first came here on a ship…that's where we docked. The first look I had at my new country was the harbor."

He digested that.

"Busy city but lots to do," he said, "Ways to get into trouble too…"

She smiled at that.

"I know…Pierce find a couple ways himself," she said, "But there's theaters and concerts…museums..we don't have that here but then it's a small town not sure whether to boom or bust."

"Done a little of both depending on the season."

"I know…when we first came here it was on its way to great places," she said, "and then the mines…"

Ethan nodded.

"I worked security for them when I was here," he said, "More solid work when I can take it."

"I imagine it might be exciting too," she said, "Miners can be a volatile lot."

He conceded that with a glance.

"Most of them are just looking to add to what they got which is little or nothing," he said, "and hit a big strike."

She shrugged.

"That hardly happens…but all it takes is one and then the crowds come," she said, "Some of it's good for businesses here and some of it is violent."

"Some of it…but you'll find that anywhere…including San Francisco."

She knew that to be true. She'd seen a public beating her first day on American soil as a young girl whose eyes had gone wide at everything around her which was so different than the home she'd left.

The one she might never see again.

They continued walking and talking pleasantly enough, not knowing that a few yards behind them, a man followed them.


	12. Chapter 12

Claire just looked at her brothers incredulously. Ben and George were running around the grounds of the theater out of control. One is chasing the other who was "it" and then changing places. At some point, one of them had narrowly missed the refreshments table causing people dressed up in fancy dresses and three piece suits to scatter out of their path as if fleeing a tornado.

Two of them, Claire thought deftly as she futilely tried to stop them, to get them to behave better now that they were at a social gathering. Well, the reception that took place after their mother, Lucy had performed as part of a musical and dance revue. Only these days she didn't do much dancing because she had been feeling winded in rehearsals and then in some of the earlier shows on the tour. So the manager, Cliff Weston just had the doctor, a retired hack take a look at her and afterward, tell Cliff that Lucy was to take it easy and stick to singing and not dancing, lest she get worse. Claire was but 14, but she knew that Cliff had been tempted to drop her mother from the troupe and she'd sat next to Lucy holding one of her hands for nearly an hour while Cliff pondered her fate in show business.

Claire saw how pale and worn her mother had looked, so unlike her usual vibrant self. The way that Claire had always remembered her as only in the past six months or so, those memories had faded replaced with the reality that her mother wasn't the same woman.

"What's wrong with you," she asked her one day.

She'd caught her mother coughing into a handkerchief that she toted around with her in her pocket to pull out when needed, when no one was watching her. Her mother put it away and then smiled at her daughter.

"Just a bit under the weather…it'll pass."

But Claire had worried anyway because Lucy was all they had…their father had taken off and left them. Her mother softened the events to spare them but it no longer worked with Claire. She'd grown up old enough to believe that parents like her mother often withheld information to spare their children the truth about what happened to them. So she'd watched her carefully and she found herself spending more time watching over her brothers and tending their household wherever it might be even if it wasn't in a house.

They traveled on trains for a while unless their mother left them with a woman named Delores to take care of them on the trips that took her to performing venues further away. Her mother would be leaving them for a month starting tomorrow morning on a trip back East to Boston, Philadelphia and even New York City. She'd been excited but wan looking as well as she packed her trunk with Claire's help.

Then she'd made it on time for this performance and reception. Claire saw Ben and George romping precariously close to the table which held the punch bowl and glasses. She strode over in that direction.

"Ben…George…stop it now…before…"

But they swerved away from the table and ran in the other direction. Claire just shook her head wondering if she'd ever get them to behave. Only their mother could do that, they'd mind her and no one else.

They'd gotten a postcard from back in the Wild West as they still called it. It had been from a town called Paradise in California near the mountains where miners still sought their fortunes through searching for gold, copper and other precious ores. Most of them either left towns like that dead broke or they died there just as broken by dreams that never would come true.

Her uncle lived there. A man named Ethan Cord who was a respectable gentleman around the town. He owned his own business and judging from the faded photograph that her mother had in the picture frame she kept close with her, he owned a business…what looked like a bustling mercantile.

He stood tall, lean but obviously well-muscled and wearing a three piece suit and a hat kind of like what a cowboy wore but nicer. Lucy talked about him sometimes…how they'd grown up together thick as thieves in nice houses and that they'd been busy working the homestead rather than getting themselves some schooling. Lucy had in fact taught herself to read and then later on the children…having developed a love of books that Claire shared.

But as far as her uncle was concerned, he didn't write but once a year maybe twice…sending them a card and some money on Christmas and around the time of their mama's birthday. Claire loved looking at the photo, seeing that behind her uncle the streets were just dirt and there were wagons rather than buggies tied to the hitching posts. Her uncle must have done quite well for himself to be prosperous in such surroundings.

He didn't have a wife or children and Lucy explained it by saying he was too set in his adventurous ways. Like her, he'd wanted to see the world and he did before settling down to own and work his own business in a small town.

"Claire…Mama wants to talk to you."

She looked up suddenly to see George standing there, the youngest of her three brothers. Ben was older but quieter than George and Joseph was the oldest…and she had no idea where he was right now. Lately he'd fancied himself wanting to be an actor like the ones in the troupe, next week he'd probably want to be something else.

She nodded at him and went off to see what her mother wanted.

* * *

Ethan and Amelia walked together stopping to gaze at the pale moonlight shimmering from a field of stars. Nights were beautiful this time of year in Paradise when it wasn't snowing. The air felt chilly but the view made up for it. She supposed some might see it as a setting for romance but she'd been able to move past that.

Tonight she just used her time spent walking with Ethan to forget about the holiday and what it represented…to forget the fact that her no good husband Pierce had abandoned her.

"Beautiful night…"

She glanced over at him just nodding.

"Lovely…"

"Good for fishing they say," Ethan said, "The lake is filled with fish."

Amelia supposed so. She had started riding down to the lake in the mornings back when it'd been warmer of course, summer as opposed to winter and she'd tie up her horse and engage in some behavior that if the ladies at the Valentine's party knew about it, scandal might erupt or at least a lot of talk.

She'd disrobe from her dress and wearing only her underclothes, she'd dive into the lake and swim towards the waterfall to feel the cascading water, so refreshing over her as she closed her eyes reveling in it. It reminded her so much of her life back in Australia when she had ridden with the hands at her family ranch including on cattle drives and roundups and they'd stop to soak in the cooling waters of lakes and rivers, under the heat of the summer day.

But here thousands of miles and some years away, it remained her own secret…that no one knew about her. She'd dressed herself up in the most elegant of clothes, styled her curly hair up so that she'd tamed it and conducted herself as a lady of the upper class. But if those around her who were impressed or even a bit intimidated by her demeanor ever knew the truth about how far she'd come…they'd be shocked.

The man walking next to her didn't seem fazed by her at all, let alone intimidated. He seemed at ease with her, totally relaxed and sometimes talking to her in a manner that suggested he might be poking some fun at her. But his eyes the way they looked at her belied his sometimes chiding words when he responded to her criticism about his profession and the unwanted excitement that surrounded him whenever he was in town.

"I'll take your word for it," she said, "I haven't been fishing in years…not since…"

She was about to say where she'd been when she'd fished for her meals while out riding on those cattle drives. During their travels, sometimes she fished in the lakes and rivers when she and Pierce set up camp in between towns. Pierce hadn't been much for doing domestic chores leaving them up to her. But she'd come to America and wound up working in a family's household doing all kinds of chores so she'd been used to it. It grated on her but she knew better than to complain about it because Pierce would find a way to not only not feel guilty but make her feel that way instead. She knew now that as a conman he'd used her to hone his skills at manipulating others to get what he wanted from them.

"I go with John Taylor sometimes," Ethan said, "You know him don't you?"

Yes she did, she had met him when she first arrived in Paradise. He'd been congenial but the way he seemed to read someone's mind was uncanny. Unnerving and she knew that John Taylor had harbored his suspicions about her husband even before he did…only he was too polite to say anything about it.

"I do and that he's lived here a long time but no one in town knows just how long."

Ethan nodded as if that were an assumed truth. They stood looking at the moonlight for a while, both lost in its luminance. She glanced sideways at him seeing how relaxed he look and yet aware at the same time. If anyone gave him cause, he'd spring to action in a split second, gun drawn and a man lying dead on the ground in another split second. She'd seen him in action.

"I can't believe how the town's faded since the mine's closed," she said, "It was bustling and on its way only six months ago."

Ethan shrugged.

"That's how it works with these towns," he said, "It might boom again but not for a while."

She sighed, knowing that to be the case. Knowing that thanks to her husband, she'd been left essentially stranded in a town that seemed to be slipping away from prosperity.

"I suppose…but as soon as I can find a way…"

He finished her assertion for her.

"You'll be gone…the whole town knows that."

She felt taken aback at the matter of fact nature of his words.

"Oh…"

"You'd be missed…you've made the bank a success."

She just looked at him.

"I'm at a loss of what to do with it," she said, "I suppose everyone knows that too."

He smiled just slightly and she thought it suited him.

"Not everyone…news travels slower in town these days."

Hardly much, she thought but she just nodded as they both watched the moon for a while longer.


	13. Chapter 13

Claire sighed as she and Joseph sat on the front porch watching the sun set past the buildings in front of them.

"Joseph I think Mama's not telling us the truth."

He scowled at her.

"You calling her a liar."

She shook her head.

"No…no but we both know she's not feeling well and it's been months now. She doesn't want us to know about it."

He sighed.

"Maybe we're not supposed to know…and maybe there's nothing to worry about anyway."

Claire glanced at her brother.

"I can't help it…I know that she's hiding something and she's been talking to us lately about Uncle Ethan…how it's been such a long time since we've seen him."

"It's been ages…I can barely remember him and what he looks like," Joseph said, "but he's family…maybe all we've got besides her."

Claire furrowed her brow because she'd been trying to make sense of it all like she usually did about everything. Lucy talked about how her brother Ethan had grown up into a fine distinguished gentleman making a name for himself out West and owning his very own business…what looked like a mercantile in the faded photo her mother kept in a frame by her bedside. He'd be so impressed by how much the children had grown, her mama said and that he'd be proud of her too.

"We should go visit him," Claire said, "Maybe that's what she wants."

Joseph frowned.

"But he lives far away…in that mining town Mama told us about," he said, "It's a long way by train and then by stagecoach."

Claire shrugged.

"I don't care…I always wanted to travel and see the world," she said, "I know we get to with Mama sometimes but I just want to see much more."

"I need to get myself a job so we can get some more money."

She arched her brows.

"Joseph you're still too young. Mama wants you to stay in school and finish. She says you're real smart when you study."

He shook his head.

"She's not making as much…too much time off to rest," he said, "We got bills that we're not paying…"

Claire knew that but she knew Mama did her best and if she didn't always feel up to it, she tried harder the rest of the time to compensate. She took good care of them…even without a daddy. Claire remembered him but he'd never stuck around much, always had something else to do, some place to be until one day…

But she didn't want to think about the last time she even saw him. No, she didn't want to think that while she and Joseph had memories of him, all Ben and George had were stories told to them by Lucy.

"Maybe it'll be easier on Mama if we suggest that we go visit Uncle Ethan," Claire said, "That way she won't have to worry."

Joseph nodded.

"I could work for him…help him in his mercantile…"

Claire brushed a strand of loose hair out of her face.

"We could go to the theater…museums and parks…just like here and other cities."

Joseph paused.

"I'm not sure they have all that," he said, "I heard Paradise is just a small town."

Claire shrugged.

"Then they'll at least have a church and we could go with our uncle and meet the minister and listen to the choir sing…"

She loved going to church, not just the religious part of it but the sense of community when people came together for a common purpose. Yes, they'd do all that and see everything the town had to offer. They could stay with Uncle Ethan in what must be a nice house if he was prosperous enough to own a store.

"I'll go talk to Mama about it…it's time for us to visit family and it'll make things easier for her."

Joseph nodded more than happy to let his sister do that part of it. They looked at the sunset and the surrounding busyness of the city around them. Then the door opened behind them and they glanced up to see their mama looking at them.

"So this is where my two oldest have been hiding."

Claire noticed she looked pale even though she'd put some makeup on her cheeks to give them color. Her hair still looked lush up in a bun off her neck but her eyes…she looked exhausted. She couldn't ever hide that from her only daughter.

"Hi Mama…we were just talking about…maybe visiting our uncle out west."

Lucy just looked at them for a long moment and Claire wondered if she'd said something wrong then Lucy smiled.

"My brother…your uncle's a fine man but he's very busy with his store I imagine," she said, "I haven't heard from him in a while."

Claire nodded.

"Mama we need to get to know him better. He's the only family we got besides you and Ben and George don't know him except from that picture."

Claire's own memories of her uncle were faint. She remembered him on a horse, dressed up in some kind of ceremony years ago when she'd been little. He'd picked her up and hoisted her on his shoulder carrying her somewhere.

"You're right…I've been thinking of that myself," Lucy said, "I'm going to write him soon and see if he's up for a visit…Maybe we can all go though with the troupe's schedule…"

Claire nodded.

"Mama we can go, the four of us," she said, "I'll look after them on the train and stagecoach the whole way. It'll be fine…"

Joseph bristled.

"I can look after my brothers too."

Lucy smiled at her oldest son.

"I know Joseph…I'll wire your uncle soon and ask him if it's a good time."

Claire smiled at her mama and saw something, a sense of urgency in her eyes that she'd been seeing more and more often lately but she didn't know why.

She did know that she really wanted to go out west and see the man she'd remembered as a little girl again.

* * *

Amelia glanced over at Ethan who had fallen into silence as they both sat on her swing next to her house. They'd walked there and she hadn't wanted to go inside yet. Though chilly, it was a beautiful night.

He hadn't said much and she wondered what was on his mind. Then she suddenly knew.

"You are thinking about your sister?"

He looked over at her in surprise.

"Why yes…I sent her something for her…and the children," he said, "First time I'd been able to do that in a long time."

She smiled at him.

"You've been in one place for a spell…you've had more time."

He sighed.

"I know but I've been thinking about them lately…not sure why."

She smiled at him.

"Maybe you miss them," she said, "Nothing wrong with that Ethan. I miss my own family…I know I'll probably never see any of them again. Most all of them are back where I was born…except one brother who came here before I did."

He looked down at his hands.

"I don't know most of my kin but Lucy. My parents died when I was a boy."

She could almost imagine him when he'd been much younger…though most of the time she'd seen a man hardened by life and most likely his line of work. It must be hard to love someone like him…let alone fall in love. Not that she was ever going to do that again…not after being so burned by the one man she had loved. She'd never put herself in those circumstances again. But what about him…she didn't know much about him…with woman except that she'd heard he had a reputation with the ladies back in the day.

But not as much lately though she did see him with a saloon girl a time or two when he'd been in town. Maybe he kept the women he loved apart from himself…she could understand why with his line of work.

"So you never married?"

He looked at her now in surprise… at the question? He didn't look like the kind of man who much surprised.

"No…no I haven't," he said, "I don't lead the life that makes for a good husband."

She nodded.

"I wouldn't argue with that," she said, "but surely someday…"

He sighed looking away from her and she knew she must have hit a chord with him in some way.

"I don't think so," he said, "I'm not the settling down type and I've seen things…done things that I wouldn't want a child…my child to know."

She heard the tension in his voice; certainly saw it in his body and it fascinated her. She had her own reservations against marriage and family…and she'd been lucky not to have had children before Pierce abandoned her. She knew he'd just as easily run away from his own flesh and blood as he did from her.

Ethan didn't look like a man who ran away from anything. He never did from a fight and maybe that'd extend to family too. Maybe he saw avoiding that part of life as his way to prevent himself from ever making a difficult choice.

She wasn't sure which but she decided she wanted to find out what made him tick.


	14. Chapter 14

They stood in front of her house. Just up the steps past the porch swing and she'd be at her front door and soon inside her parlor. She'd light up the fire for some warmth when the night chilled and pour herself some Scotch before going to bed.

She hadn't seen him in almost two years and had removed all traces of him from the house getting rid of his things. He'd taken off so quickly, just with the clothes he wore on his back along with most the cash and nearly all of her jewelry.

Not that she wanted it anymore but she felt doubly betrayed. That she'd been so young and foolish to be fooled by him and that only what little wealth se had mattered to him. Maybe selling off her jewelry was what kept him alive…if he still lived.

"I'd better go inside now, thank you Mr. Cord."

He tipped his hat and nodded at her. The man could be like a gentleman at times and that just confused her all the more. Not that she thought much about that. He'd be a distraction at best because the violence that followed him so closely. Anyone who got close to him would just wind up hurt or worse. She knew already what it was like to associate closely with men who lived by the gun. Back in the Outback and rustic villages of back home and in the barely settled West in the new land.

"All right, you okay now?"

She bristled a bit at that hearing something like concern in the man's voice. No, better not to get too wrapped up in him. Her life complicated enough as not being trying to bear her dignity like a widow when she bore the label as shameful as a divorcee.

"I'm just fine. I don't need a man to look after me Mr. Cord."

He didn't look offended.

"I don't think you would but a man just bothered you and he might still be around."

She sighed.

"They all are after my husband not me. It's not as if he's publishing notice of where he's gone or where he'll be for the people he swindled to come looking for him."

"So they come looking for you?"

She shrugged.

"Or his last known location," she said, "Not many of them just the occasional one."

He stuck his hands in his pockets looking her in the eye.

"They don't hurt you do they?"

She chuckled at that.

"Oh no…like I said, I can take care of myself."

He appeared to digest that.

"But you'd say something if they did bother you?"

She looked at him funny certainly not expecting that but she shook her head.

"No need to bother anyone…."

"It wouldn't be a bother," he said, "You have a right to live in peace."

She curved her mouth into a slow smile.

"Thank you but really I'm okay and I should get inside before people talk…"

He furrowed his forehead.

"About what?"

She sighed seeing that he genuinely didn't see it but then he probably paid little attention to petty town politics.

"Like I'm doing something wrong as a married woman who still belongs to her husband and mustn't do anything to dishonor him."

"He's left you, isn't that dishonor enough?"

She felt startled that he'd even say such a thing. You just didn't do that out loud to a woman on a town street. There was a lot more to the man in front of her than she ever figured…not that it mattered. She still had to keep her distance from him…if she was to have learned anything about her past.

"I'd better be going…"

She walked up the stairs and went inside her house, only glancing back once.

* * *

Ethan watched her go, realizing how pretty she looked right now. Not that she'd appreciate such glances from a man. She didn't seem to appreciate much from his kind but he supposed he couldn't blame her. Like him, she kept so much of her own life private behind a mask and in her case, the most stylish dresses out of Europe.

He wondered what her skin would feel like under his fingertips. Satiny smooth he imagined. But then he parked that thought. She was a married woman after all even though what her husband did made him worth less than a bucket of bull's urine. But maybe he didn't know the whole story…maybe as the gossips said, she'd driven to it.

Not that he could believe it. He'd seriously underestimated Amelia. She'd been as good as poker as he remembered and she'd been as hard as nails, a no-nonsense businesswoman too. No surprises there except…she'd had a softness about her, a hint of vulnerability below the wrapping.

He headed back to the saloon keeping an eye out for the man that had given her problems earlier. But the streets were mostly empty all the way to where Charlie, Scotty and Tiny stood by the doorway no doubt keeping their distance from the party.

"You done walking the lady home?"

He walked past them to order another Scotch.

"Nah he's back too early Charlie," Amos said, "She must have turned him down."

Ethan just shot them both a look as he sipped his drink and they changed subjects.

* * *

Amelia lit up the fireplace and went to go make herself some tea to steep with some brandy. She'd been busy all day and felt tired. Her conversation with the confounding Ethan Cord still on her mind. He'd not been what she expected and that left her confused. She'd always been so critical of him for his violent lifestyle but then who could blame her when the town got shot up when one of his enemies followed him to town?

That hadn't been entirely his fault but he had to know his chosen profession put others at risk including anyone close to him. Still, she shouldn't judge him poorly given that her husband turned out to be less of a man by taking off on her like a coward, a weakling.

The floor creaked from the kitchen and she froze. She'd just been there and had been alone but now it sounded like footsteps.

"Who's there…?"

Then a man appeared in the parlor, the same one who'd confronted her on the street and he wasn't alone.

"You know damn well who we are…your husband got all our hard earned money and we're here to get it back!"

The other man leered.

"Or something else in kind…"

She saw how he stood between her and the front door and knew she'd never make it past him.


	15. Chapter 15

Amelia looked at the two men who stepped foot inside her house. They must have found a way inside when she'd been at the hotel. She folded her arms and looked at them, while she mentally counted down the footsteps to the bureau where she kept her guns.

"Who are you?"

The two men looked at each other and back at her. They were dressed up a bit rugged clearly not businessmen. But she knew instantly this had to do with Pierce.

Some business dealing done with her errant husband. The one who'd fled one night leaving her alone to deal with his wronged customers.

"I'm Brick," the taller one said, "and this is Luke."

Somehow she wasn't quite sure they were using their real names. Pierce had friends like that who she'd wondered about how real they were in terms of what they called themselves.

"You're Amelia Lawson…we know all about you."

Luke paced as he said those words while Brick examined different items in her parlor.

"What do you want?"

Brick leaned against the brick near the fireplace

"Where's your husband anyway," he said, "We figured he'd skipped out since we haven't seen him around here."

Amelia bit her lip, not sure what to say. They'd already guessed the truth anyway but did they seriously think she knew anything? She was just the clueless wife who'd married her husband too young as a means of escape after all.

"I…I don't know," she said, "I haven't seen him after all."

The two men looked at each other again and then Brick sneered.

"Pierce dumped such a pretty girl like you," he said, "I find that hard to believe…maybe he's just hiding nearby."

Amelia shook her head.

"I don't know where he is…he took off over a year ago so you're that much late."

Brick stepped forward.

"You getting smart with us?"

She lifted her chin up not willing to budge an inch.

"No…I'm telling you I've not seen him in over a year," she said, "He could be dead for all I know."

They didn't look satisfied with her response but she didn't know what else to say to them. She stood too far away from where she stored her guns. She didn't know yet if she'd need them.

"He's not dead…not yet," Luke said, "but you know more than what you're saying and you'd better start talking because he owes us a lot of money."

She sighed.

"He owes a lot of people money including me," she said, "but you won't find him around here."

She started walking away and Luke grabbed her arm. She tried to shake it loose but he held it fast.

"Where are you going?"

She glared at him.

"Let my arm go…I told you what I know so you should just move along…you're not going to find my sorry excuse for a husband in Paradise."

Brick nodded at Luke and he released her arm. She realized that he must be the one who called the shots between the two of them.

"We need you to tell you the truth or…"

"Or what?"

Brick took a step forward and she felt a cold chill from what she saw on his face.

"Or else…."

* * *

Claire had fretted about how her mother looked all day but Lucy insisted that she felt just fine and that the show must go on…she'd rest up in between them. They were going to be staying here for a while so that she could recoup her strength.

"Just a touch of the flu," she'd told Claire more than once.

But she sensed it was worse than that. Whatever malaise had taken hold of her. Lucy had lost some weight appearing almost bony in spots and her face looked paler, her eyes tired. The boys didn't notice. Ben and George were too focused on trying to have fun when they weren't fighting and Joseph wanted to hang out with the daredevils.

He'd wanted to try some of their stunts but Lucy had said no. Claire had advised him not to worry her because she hadn't been feeling well.

"I'm fine darling," Lucy said, "Don't you worry about your mama. I'll come back stronger than ever."

Claire sighed as she watched her mother's hand shake when she held the brush to comb out her luscious locks of hair that framed her angular face.

"We could go visit Uncle Ethan for a spell…help him with his store."

Lucy frowned as she put the brush back on the bureau and stood in front of the mirror.

"I don't know about that Claire…he's awfully busy I'm sure…being a big success and all."

"Then he could use our help," Claire said, "I can sweep the floors and even look at the books. I'm the best in the class in math."

Lucy knew that from the times that Claire spent in school though they all had to take off and travel for a while.

"I know but I need you here with me for now," she said, "Mostly I'm fine but I do feel mite tired at times."

"You seen a doctor?"

Lucy made a face.

"I don't need one Claire…it's just a touch of that flu and I'm almost all better."

Claire didn't think so. Her mother barely ate and she hadn't risen from her bed until mid-morning after last night's show.

As she worried, she didn't say it but privately she thought she might get some paper and write a letter to her uncle.

* * *

Ethan had left Amelia's house and she'd seemed all right. He'd enjoyed the time spent with her despite himself. He wasn't supposed to like her after all, since she clearly didn't approve of him. She'd said that more than once but tonight…she'd seemed different. Not as hard on him he noted

He'd seen a softer side of her at least for a while.

It mustn't be easy for her with her husband having ran off on her. He knew that the town talked about what she must have done for her husband to leave but he'd never been all that impressed with Pierce himself.

The man cheated at poker and hung out at the saloon when he was around…while his wife worked at the bank. Amelia worked hard. Ethan knew that for sure.

"Ethan…"

He looked up and saw Charlie there.

"What's up?"

Charlie shrugged.

"Not much…Scotty had to lay the law down on men who tried to start another fight…"

Ethan sighed.

"Need my help?"

"No…they took off," Charlie said, "things had been quiet and Mary didn't want a disruption to her party."

"That still going on?"

Charlie shook his head.

"Matilda and the others have cleaned up and headed on home. I'm heading back to the office."

Ethan thought about heading back to the hotel where he'd been staying until he took off on his next job. But he felt restless.

"Bar still open?"

Charlie nodded.

"Scotty's cleaning up but he'll still serve you."

Ethan headed down to the saloon thinking he might need a drink right now.


	16. Chapter 16

God she hated the way he looked at her right now.

It'd been the month before he left her and took off for parts unknown. She'd been waiting for him to return from the saloon where he'd been playing poker. But the hours had passed, chiming away on the old clock he'd picked up at an estate sale some time ago.

Midnight, and she'd been feeling sick. She had been dealing with an upset stomach for a while and lately she'd been wondering…but no it couldn't be. She'd been too busy, he'd been too distant except for that night six weeks earlier when he'd been like the man she married.

For about one night but it'd been wonderful enough so that she'd dared hoped once again she'd imagined all the rest. But afterward, he'd returned to the same man who kept so much hidden from her. Who disappeared in the late afternoon and didn't come home until after midnight.

Sometimes she waited up for him in the parlor. Other times she went to bed and when he slipped in beside her she felt half-awake, vaguely remembering it. Forgetting it by morning.

She'd known she could get pregnant because Pierce liked throwing caution in the wind. He told her lately that it might be time for a baby. That she needed something besides the bank to keep her busy but she knew if she had a child, it'd no more belong to her legally than the building that she spent most of her time in these days.

It hadn't happened in their first five years of marriage and towards the end of their first decade together…she'd been 15 when they married, he'd been 25, she thought it might. But by then she didn't know if she wanted it. She'd spent part of her time working for her sponsor family taking care of a baby in between cleaning the rooms but she somehow knew that the man she married might never grow up himself.

This afternoon she'd felt really sick, cramping until she could barely stand and she'd been alone on the street walking home from the bank. She felt waves of heat rush through her even though the day had been chilly and her legs buckle.

"Amelia…"

She heard the familiar voice call her by her first name though they barely knew each other. Ethan Cord, the town's gunslinger though she didn't know what was real about him and what she'd just read. She didn't like him much because where he went, violence followed and he brought danger to Paradise. Life got volatile enough in a mining town where fortunes grew and dreams collapsed in one breath.

He just added to it and to the body count.

But right now, she could barely stand and he stood there in front of her. Dressed in his gunslinger outfit looking large as life.

"You all right?"

She gritted her teeth knowing she wasn't but all she wanted to do was get home.

"I…I…what are you doing here?"

He worked his jaw.

"I'm picking up my payment on a job," he said, "I'll be staying at the hotel till the next one I suppose."

She sighed, trying to brace herself.

"I…."

Then she felt him grab her with his hands without asking or invitation. She sank against him because at this point…she didn't want to fall on the ground. He'd held onto her while she walked back to her house and somehow she made it inside.

She tried to tell him it was all right but then she felt faint. Next thing she knew he had left her to go fetch the closest thing Paradise had to a doctor.

Pierce had shown up eventually and she'd been feeling better…she had to because she had to be strong because she had a husband who was weak. He'd seemed relieved and she hated him for that.

But the waiting up for him in the weeks that followed, was even worse. Until that last fight where everything threatened to pour out of her only she walled it back up again.

She had to be the strong one after all.

Now she looked at the two men who threatened her. Enemies of that deadbeat weakling of a husband. She'd often thought about how she'd kill him herself if he returned. Now the two men were the latest who wanted to do that themselves.

"Or else what?"

The two men looked at each other. Brick sneered.

"We'll take out the payment in other ways."

She nearly froze as she got their meaning. But she wasn't going to cave into that. Her husband had cost her enough already…nothing more would be taken away from her by anyone.

"I'd think twice about doing that."

"Oh really…how are you going to do that," Brick said, "We're both stronger than you. We'll let you go in the morning."

That ticked her off, how dare they treat her like her husband's property! She glanced carefully towards where she kept her guns tucked away…without giving away her intentions.

"You're not strong enough."

She tried to chuckle derisively but her mouth grew dry. No, she couldn't let herself be afraid. Being alone, it wasn't a luxury she could afford. The whole town gossiped about her, made up stories about how she pushed Pierce away, she couldn't hold onto her man. He was the heroic gentleman, the romantic and she the ungrateful shrew.

The two men stepped closer and she knew they thought she was bluffing. She had to show them and quickly that she could take care of herself.

* * *

Ethan took the drink from Scotty. He needed it after the long day though it'd been broken up by spending time with Amelia. Far from disliking it, he'd enjoyed himself. She'd been an intelligent woman with a quick wit and a lot different from the no nonsense banker that gave him a difficult time when their paths crossed.

"So you walked her home?"

He looked over at Scotty who had been wiping down the bar.

"Yes…it wasn't that far but it's late."

"Not much happens here at night these days," Scotty said, "Town's dying again."

"A couple of bar fights and a man harassed her earlier."

"Someone after her husband?"

Ethan nodded. Scotty and Mary had been two of the few people who weren't all that impressed with Amelia's husband.

"He left and haven't seen him so hopefully he's left town to go find Pierce."

Scotty shook his head.

"I wonder if he's dead."

Ethan finished his Scotch.

"Not likely…he's probably hiding out from men like the ones who are bothering Amelia."

"She's a nice woman…a bit stern but she's got a kind side," Scotty said, "She donates money to the church fund…for the new bell."

Ethan hadn't known that but it didn't surprise him. There was a lot about Amelia he couldn't ever figure. Like she was two different women…both pretty but one more reserved than the other.

"Shame but even if he's alive, I don't think he's coming back."

Ethan doubted he would either but he didn't think it a shame. Pierce didn't deserve his wife even though she made his own life hard at times. She'd also tried to help him in ways that surprised him and he'd done the same for her.

Like that day on the street…a part of him wanted to slam Pierce against a wall for that and he couldn't understand why.

He asked Scotty to refresh his glass and tried not to think about it too much.


	17. Chapter 17

Ethan had refreshed his drink and found his mind beginning to relax. It'd been a long day and he'd felt tired. Yet he wasn't ready to head back to the hotel to sleep yet. The night was still boisterous with piano music and laughter from another saloon down the street.

He suspected since the mines were closed again, that saloon would soon be a memory but until then…it was one more place to watch for trouble.

"You making a late night of it?"

Ethan nodded. The town hadn't made him its marshal but the current guy seemed weak to him. He couldn't even find him, probably fallen off a barstool somewhere. You could never tell when trouble would erupt.

He thought of that day when Amelia had nearly fallen in the street. If he hadn't caught her, she would have fainted. He'd gotten her back home and called for the doctor. He had stayed with her as she trembled which told him volumes. She'd never ever shown any sign of fear or any weakness at all. She had always seemed as strong as iron to him and just about as flexible.

But the doctor who'd actually been the barber had shooed him out and he'd gone back to the saloon. Pierce hadn't shown up until much later and Ethan had wanted to slug him. But that smooth talking silver tongued con artist had wormed his way back into his household before long.

When he'd seen her again, she'd looked a bit paler but she smiled at him and thanked him in a few curt words before heading to the bank to put in another day's work. She really didn't let anything stop her from putting everything she had into what her husband owned.

He'd slipped back into his own life as a gunslinger. Things had continued until he first heard that Pierce had taken off.

Some people wondered if he lay dead somewhere and whether his wife had a hand on it but Ethan knew better.

Amelia had made a report to the marshal a couple days later but hadn't held much hope in it. Ethan didn't think he'd be coming back.

"A couple of men were here earlier asking some questions," Scotty said, "not from around here obviously."

Ethan didn't feel surprised by that. People blew in and out of Paradise all the time and many hung out at the watering hole for a spell.

"They were talking with Amos earlier after the poker game ended," Scotty continued, "then they left not long after. Two surly looking men."

"Maybe they lost a game or two."

Scotty shook his head.

"They never even played," he said, "just sat on their stools and ordered drinks. Kept to themselves."

"No law against that…"

"No but when they left it's like the mood changed…"

* * *

Amelia tried to figure out what to say next to them. She had an eye on the door and one on the bureau where she kept her weapons.

Gifts from a man she'd met not long after she married Pierce who had been concerned when he heard they'd be traveling through the wilderness.

"Always keep it on you or beside you," the man had said.

She knew how to shoot like a marksman already. He hadn't seemed too surprised by that, not nearly as much as her husband had been.

But both Brick and Luke kept a careful eye on her and positioned themselves deliberately. Almost as if they knew what she was thinking right now. She tried to keep calm but inside she felt anything but…she felt fear and that was dangerous.

As much as the men who were after her husband.

"I don't know where he is…I told you," she said, "You won't find him here."

Brick stepped ever closer.

"But we found something much better," Luke smirked, "We found the wife he's left alone by herself. Bet you're feeling lonely right now aren't you?"

No, what she felt was anger. Fear interlaced with it but she wanted to clench her fists because she might strike out and now wasn't the time to do that. Not against both of them.

Luke leered at her.

"We could fix that loneliness might quick," he said, "We could both make you real happy."

She forced her eyes away from the bureau.

"No…you see I'm married and I take those vows very seriously."

Much more so than Pierce had done but she was stronger. She'd had to be. No way would they be getting the better of her.

"But I don't see him around here do you? Maybe you best forget about him right now and give us some attention."

Bile rose up in her throat, burning it. She'd grown so tired of Pierce's clients coming back looking for him after discovering they'd been ripped off on some real estate scam.

"Where's the bedroom," Luke said, "and we can get started."

She just stared at them refusing to move.

"I don't think so…like I said, I'm a married woman."

Brick sneered at her.

"Your husband owes us a lot more than just the money," he said, "and since he's not here to pay up, you'll have to do it."

She sighed, looking at him.

"Okay how much money do you want? I can get a draft at the bank for you in the morning."

"You can make us real happy right now," he said, "in the morning you can consider your husband's debt paid…depending on how well you treat us."

She felt her heart thud, her hands grow clammy. The way they looked at her, she had few options unless she could reach her gun.

How many steps away and would they try to stop her? She had to come up with a plan quick.

"You up for some good fun pretty thing?"

She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry.

"Why don't you just take the money?"

Brick sighed, obviously amused.

"I couldn't buy a woman as nice as you with money," he said, "So I'll take the classy woman instead. You're married so you know what to do…how to please a man."

She tried inching away from him towards the bureau but his eyes sharpened.

"Don't you dare move…unless it's towards the staircase and we'll be watching you…make sure you don't try anything."

She nodded slightly. If they got her upstairs…she still had some options. She ran them in her head but giving in wasn't one of them. She couldn't even imagine it. Even with Pierce it hadn't been…but no, she wasn't going to let them touch her.

She'd find a way to defend herself but she had to think fast.


	18. Chapter 18

Amelia had spent so much time alone since Pierce left, it had taught her to rely on herself. She'd never put herself in a situation where she ever depended on a man again. She'd probably never marry and she'd stick to making the bank as profitable as possible in case she'd ever be able to sell it.

She'd thought about hiring attorneys to wrangle the legalities of a wife buying a bank from her deadbeat husband or perhaps just having it transferred to her. But doing that was almost unheard of, the husband held all the property and the power and pretty much owned his wife as well.

What they might have shared together they lost. Her husband hadn't cared, he'd been too buried in his own business dealings that were beginning to catch up with him.

"You going to give us what we want darling?"

She just stared at them, trying to keep her balance on her feet on her toes in case she had to dodge them if they came after her. She knew how to take care of herself, how to box including throwing punches and sparring. He father was the best at it in the region where she lived and had won some prize money. She'd traveled with him sometimes when she'd gotten too underfoot for her mother.

The men in front of her likely didn't know that.

"No…Like I said, you'd better just leave," she said, "He's not coming back here."

Brick stepped forward in a menacing way.

"We're not interested in him right now. We're interested in you."

She choked back a lump in her throat because she felt fear rise up but she had to keep it from taking over. She had to be in control here so she didn't move.

Pierce had left a trail of broken dreams and men carrying grudges and she'd already had to deal with some of them.

"I told you to leave."

Brick leered at her in that way he had that made the bile rise in her throat. She knew that he was the more dangerous of the pair, the leader whereas more than likely Luke just followed his example. But they were both much stronger than her, more imposing. She'd never been a tall woman after all.

"We like it here just fine for now…we want to get started…you got anything to drink to set the mood?"

She just stared at them. Were they crazy? Maybe or more likely just desperate to get their revenge for what her husband had done. Pierce could have stayed around to face those he conned and swindled out of cash or whatever they had but he took the cowardly way out just as he had with her.

Beginning the day that she nearly collapsed on the street that had pretty much made her realize she was way down on his list of priorities. If it hadn't been for Ethan of all people…but he'd helped her. As much as she could be at that point.

"You heard what we said."

Luke nodded for emphasis.

"We can drink some scotch or whisky first if you'd like to make a night of it."

She shook her head.

"There's scotch and brandy in the cabinet over there," she said, "You can help yourself but I don't drink to forget. You'll still be just as repulsive as you are right now."

Luke stepped forward angry like he might strike her but Brick pulled him backward.

"She's just jerking you…thinking it's going to help her but it won't…make it more exciting if you ask me."

Amelia swallowed, her throat feeling dry again. Maybe some whisky would help but no, she needed her wits about her.

The two men went to the cabinet and found Pierce's last bottle of whisky. Brick opened it up and drank a huge swallow out of the bottle before Luke took it away from him for his own drinking.

"See, we'll get nice and ready for you," Brick said, "Maybe wash up some so we're properly ready for a fine piece like you."

Amelia recoiled. They could clean all the dirt off of them, polish themselves up, get new threads and she still wouldn't like them. She watched them finish off the whisky bottle and drop it on the floor where it rolled. Then they both looked at her.

"Best we be heading upstairs don't you think," Brick said, "Unless you want to get things started down here on the sofa."

She forced a smile on her face shaking her head. She remembered that she had an old gun of Pierce's that remained upstairs in the bedroom.

If they took her upstairs, she could find a way to get to it. She hoped that it was already loaded. But she wasn't going to make it easy for them.

"You need to freshen up first…"

* * *

Ethan had heard what Scotty said about the two unknown men. They hadn't been part of the brawls that broke out after the poker game but they'd been gone by the time the dust cleared. Maybe they'd left town.

"Hey you have enough to drink?"

Ethan nodded and thought he might just head to the hotel and crash for the night. He'd be expecting his next job any day now and he still had plenty of money in his account. He hoped that Lucy would contact him after receiving the gift he bought for her and the children.

He wanted to see them all again but if that happened…the truth about his real job would come out. They thought he was a successful businessman that he owned the mercantile that was Axelrod's. What would Lucy say if she found out that what he led her to believe wasn't the truth? She'd done so much for him, saved his life more than once.

Been the parent his mother and father could never be. Until they'd been separated and he fell into a nightmare she couldn't protect him from anymore.

"I think I'll get going," he said, "Thanks for the poker game."

Scotty sighed.

"Mary loved the party and how it turned out," he said, "Might throw one next year, make it an annual event."

Ethan didn't know how he felt about that but supposed it was harmless enough. Men played the poker, women had parties and Amelia…well she could move just as easily from one group to the next. She was really something, no doubt about that. He just didn't know what.

But it wasn't for him to figure out because he wouldn't be around Paradise much longer. He just stayed here once in a while for a short spell. His home was on the open range in pursuit of some fugitive. He was itching to get back out there again.

As he said goodbye to Scotty, he thought about what his next job might be. His life proved chaotic and sometimes dangerous…he thought of his family back East but didn't know how they fit in his world either.

He wondered if he'd ever find out.


	19. Chapter 19

Claire fretted about her mother's health though she never let on. But Lucy had missed more shows than she counted and her weight began to drop off leaving her angular in build. Her energy flagged and what little she had she used up on stage leaving Claire to do most of the tending to her brothers while her mother slept on the chaise.

She knew she had to do something. She had to get her mother to a doctor and soon but her mother balked and said that she didn't need her children taking care of her Claire didn't have the heart to tell her how picking up the chores that she couldn't do was tiring her out. The spare time she had left over was for her studies. Sometimes they traveled with Lucy which meant that they had to do their own studying. Claire missed school but she wouldn't give up the time with her mother and Ben had been learning how to read just recently. He seemed to like it as long as the stories were about cowboys and outlaws.

Why he was interested in that unsavory subject, Claire had no idea. Lucy's troupe mate Shorty who played the harmonica had been reading to the boys from one of his dime store novels.

"Honey can you fetch me some water with honey?"

Claire went to prepare it, the concoction helped soothe her mother's vocal cords so that they didn't wear out. But her voice had weakened and nothing helped.

"You know I'm going to need you to watch the boys while I meet with Rex about the new routine," Lucy said, "I don't think Nellie's coming back."

Nellie had eloped with the sword swallower who had joined the troupe six months ago. Awfully fast, Claire thought.

"I think he'll like it," she said, "and the new song is very pretty."

Lucy looked pleased at her praise and Claire gave her the cup of warm water with honey for her to drink. She noticed that her mother winced when she sipped from it. She'd been complaining of a sore throat lately to add to her list of ills.

"I'm writing a letter to Uncle Ethan."

Her mother frowned.

"Why…Oh Claire, he's so busy with the mercantile," she said, "I know you want to invite him to St. Louis when we get back but I don't think he'll have the time."

Claire furrowed her brow.

"I think he'd love to come out and see us all," she said, "I barely remember him and the boys…"

Lucy sighed.

"I…we just live far apart that's all," she said, "It's been a while since we last saw each other."

"Do you miss him?"

Her mother looked affronted.

"Of course I do, what kind of question is that?"

Claire bit her lip knowing only that her uncle seemed to be a sensitive subject with her mother for some unknown reason. But she knew that Lucy might need someone to look after her if she weakened any further.

"I know you mean well honey but it's best to just let things be…someday we'll get enough time off and some money to go out to Paradise and see him."

Claire nodded to please Lucy but she wondered and later on, she'd be finishing her letter to send to her uncle.

* * *

Ethan walked with Charlie after leaving the saloon. They'd stop by the marshal's office which Charlie worked in because they were in between marshals…not that they could trust any they'd had so far.

"Tough job but someone's got to do it."

Ethan knew that Charlie didn't mind it most of the time.

"You should put in for it Ethan," Charlie said, "You'd make a great marshal and you shoot better than I do."

Ethan shook his head. Not interested. He liked the career he'd staked out for himself as a gunslinger for hire. The money was pretty good and he got to travel. He'd never been one for staying in one place.

"There was a man who bothered Mrs. Lawson earlier, he said he knew Pierce."

Charlie sighed.

"Must be one of his customers that he swindled," he said, "I know that a couple of men dropped by last week looking for him. I just tell them he's left town some time ago and hasn't come back."

"This man looked very upset," Ethan said, "I had to send him on his way and walk Mrs. Lawson home."

Charlie smiled.

"Sounds like a tough chore Ethan."

Ethan didn't like the tone of his voice…as if he were supposed to take advantage of Amelia with her husband gone. Even if he were so inclined, she wasn't a woman he normally associated with.

"She's still married."

"I know that but we both know he's not setting foot in Paradise again. If he's even still alive."

"Oh he's alive," Ethan said, "and he's letting his wife face the anger of those he stole from like a coward."

Charlie just shook his head at him.

"Pierce was always hiding from trouble most of which he caused himself but he was friendly enough."

Ethan never liked him. He remembered that time when he had to practically carry Amelia back to the house. She'd been nearly limp and he hadn't known what had happened to her. He'd asked her about Pierce and she hadn't known where he might be.

"Trouble's going to catch up to him that he can't run from and it couldn't happen to a better person."

* * *

Amelia looked at the two men who know stood between her and the bureau.

"Come on now," Brick said, "I'm sure you being a married woman and all know what to do to make us happy."

She didn't budge. They wanted her to go upstairs and she didn't want to do that.

"We washed up like you wanted…"

Luke glared.

"I don't feel like waiting any longer," he said, "Now get up those stairs…and think about keeping your husband alive."

She looked squarely at him.

"You can kill him if you want," she said, "Save me having to do it myself.'

The two men looked at each other.

"Enough on him," Brick said, "You give us what we want."

She hedged, knowing that she was all alone now. Her husband had left her unprotected, not that she needed him. Ethan had left after she'd gone into the house…why was she thinking about him? She didn't need any men she could look after and protect herself. All she needed was to have a chance when they were off guard to get a gun.

But their attention remained focused on her. Suddenly Brick stepped closer to her and grabbed her arm. She struggled and he held it tighter.

"You want to fight you can do that too."


	20. Chapter 20

Ethan remembered the first time he'd seen her since she'd taken ill that day in the street. She left her house dressed up, wrapped in a coat and looking somewhat paler than he remembered. Walking down the street, she looked more focused on where she was going rather than the scenery around her.

Pierce had taken off on one of his real estate deals with two brothers who Ethan sensed would cut his throat and leave him to bleed dry in the outskirts of town if he swindled him. Leaving Amelia a widow. She'd fare better wearing that status than most women who'd be forced to struggle to feed and shelter themselves, some resorting to working in the saloons or even begging. But Amelia had money, he knew that apart from that earned by her husband.

She didn't look the same he'd noticed. Missing the fire that she normally put on display at least with him. Damn her, he thought sometimes when they squared off usually about something he said or what he did for a living.

But now she'd grown so quiet, very reserved as she went about town. Wearing her curly hair up above her neck and her usual imported dresses from Europe.

He'd walked on egg shells around her like he did for no one. She'd been like that for a while and then not long after Pierce had left, he'd seen another side of her.

One morning he'd been by the livery stable talking to Tiny when he heard the sound of frantic hoof beats approaching and when he looked up, he saw her on horseback, the palomino mare and she seemed so focused on her riding that she didn't see anyone else. His eyes followed her on the mare until she disappeared down the main road out of town.

About two hours later, she came back while he was talking to Charlie outside the marshal's office and her hair had been strewn loose and even curlier around her face and she looked different, almost feral in form and relaxed, one with her horse.

Where had she just been, he wondered. When she rode half wild like that, where was her destination?

A lot about her he just couldn't figure but she'd been a woman married to a silver tongued con artist and seemed apart from him in the time before he vanished.

Matilda had walked up to him and looked at him with disapproval. He'd been looking at Amelia after all and the bank teller had this somewhat generous view of Pierce Lawson that he didn't share.

"She's looking…better," she said, "Than she did before he left."

Ethan didn't respond. Charlie nodded.

"Looking awfully good for a woman whose husband left her without making her a widow."

Matilda clucked her tongue.

"Pierce was a fine man, genteel, you could tell he had class and status," she said, "A gentleman."

Ethan sighed.

"A gentleman wouldn't have run off on his wife."

Both Charlie and Matilda looked at him and he rubbed the back of his neck.

"What do you mean Mr. Cord," Matilda asked, "How do you know he's not departed from this world?"

Ethan clenched his jaw.

"I just do…and he's not coming back…"

Charlie shook his head.

"She could be right."

"Pierce Lawson gave so much money to this town," Matilda said, "including for the new schoolhouse."

Ethan didn't say anything to that, knowing that the woman had her mind made up about him. But he'd known a lot of men like Amelia's husband, hunted more than a few of them down and some had wound up dead at the hands of those they conned money from before taking off.

He thought about that all now as he'd looked over at Charlie who'd gone to his desk.

"Got in a whole batch of Wanted posters on the stage," he said, "Guess there's some new brand of outlaws out there riding around looking for trouble."

Ethan shrugged as he sat down opposite from Charlie.

"Nothing any different from business as usual."

"I know but if we don't get a full time marshal soon and we get a bunch of them coming in," Charlie said, "What are we going to do?"

"You'll round up men and deputize them," Ethan said, "That's how it's done."

"I know but who's willing? The ranchers maybe but not the town's businessmen. You know they talk big but when it comes to getting their hands dirty…"

Ethan knew the rest. People like Axelrod and Amos and the others wouldn't want to be part of any posse to deal with outlaws. It'd be him and Charlie and maybe Tiny.

Business as usual in Paradise.

* * *

Amelia tried to run away but Brick wouldn't release her arm. His eyes bore into her own and there was a wildness to them. The man might just be crazy or crazy vengeful when it came to getting back at Pierce. She'd tried to hit him and slapped his face. His face grew stony and he pulled his own hand and hit her back.

Hard.

Her eyes stung from the force of the blow and she nearly fell over. He yanked on her arm and Luke laughed at her, mirthlessly.

"You try her out first…get her ready for me okay?"

Brick grabbed her other arm.

"I'll do that…as soon as we get her up the stairs…so get a move on. Luke and me…we're not real patient."

She felt the dryness in her throat and her body felt rigid. She didn't want to go with them but Brick was strong, his grip on her solid.

"Your husband…crook that he is…had good taste in wives."

Lukas stroke one of her arms, which made her flinch.

"You're so soft…too soft…one of those refined ladies…"

Brick sneered.

"Too good for us I bet," he said, "You'll learn otherwise."

She tried to pull away but Brick didn't seem fazed. His eyes glanced at her stairs and she knew where he'd be heading.

Not that she'd make it easy for them. No one was going to help her get away from them to stop them from…she shook her body to try to break loose.

If she could just get away….

* * *

Ethan watched as Charlie looked through the posters, saw the different etchings of men and women. All accused of committing crimes all the way up to murder.

They all blurred together as Charlie dropped them into a pile until…

"Charlie…"

The deputy watched as he picked out one of them.


	21. Chapter 21

"I sent the letter to him Joseph."

He looked up at Claire as they both sat on the chaise in the latest hotel where they had waited for their mother to return from a trip to the doctor.

They'd be back in St. Louis soon enough where Lucy was supposed to get looked at but she'd fainted during a curtain encore and the director of the show insisted on her getting cleared before her next performance.

To be sure that some audience wasn't treated to the star singer actually dying on stage from some ailment. Claire had been worried enough to insist that Lucy do as ordered so her mother had finally decided to bite the bullet and get checked out.

Only it'd been two hours going on three since she'd done that and Claire had been left in charge of the others. Joseph did the usual grumbling about his sister being the boss of him but even he'd been more worried this time. She knew he feared that their mother was seriously ill underneath her cavalier attitude about it.

"What if she's dying Joseph? What will happen to her…and us?"

Her brother shook his head.

"Nah…she's just tired, that's all Claire," he said, "She'll rest up a bit and then she'll be as good as new."

Claire didn't know what to think. Her mother had always been there for them even when they were living apart from her. But lately she'd been more tired, weak and her features more ashen. Almost as if she were slowly fading away from the inside out.

"I don't know. She fainted again and this time, she didn't wake up as quick. They thought she might be…"

She couldn't think that far let alone finish her sentence. No, Joseph had to be right. Their mother would be just fine with a little rest and relaxation. It'd worked before after all. But whatever ailed her just kept coming back, carving away another small piece of her each time.

"I think it'll be just fine," he said, "Not worth bothering Uncle Ethan about way back in California."

She sighed.

"It's nice just to write back to him. He being a big success and all with his store. He's family you know and we should see him."

"What if he doesn't want to see us," Joseph asked, "He's never come out and visited us here."

"That's because our mama moves around so much. It'd be too much of a bother trying to track her down when she's performing."

Joseph shrugged.

"Still you'd think if they were so close…we'd have memories of knowing him. If it wasn't for that picture I wouldn't know what he looks like."

Claire smiled.

"He sure is handsome. He must be since he's kin to mama and she's so beautiful."

"I wonder if he's rich."

"He must have a lot of money," Claire reasoned, "with such a fancy store like a mercantile."

Joseph and Claire heard the door open just then and in walked their mother. She wore a smile on her face but it appeared as weak as the rest of her. Claire went up to go to her.

"Mama what is it? What did the doctor say?"

Her mother paused and then caressed her daughter's cheek.

"Nothing much…but you need to get you and your brothers packed. We're heading home to St. Louis."

Both Claire and Joseph looked at each other not knowing what to think.

* * *

Ethan looked at the poster of the man he'd picked out of the pile while Charlie looked at him.

"What is it?"

Ethan put the poster back on his desk.

"I've seen this man here in Paradise."

Charlie went to take a closer look.

"Really? He looks a little familiar but more like a type."

Ethan sighed.

"No I saw him earlier…on the street. He was bothering Amelia Lawson. Seems that he had a run in with one of her husband's business dealings."

Charlie made a face.

"I see…what did Pierce con him out of, land, money?"

"I'm not sure. But this man came after him real upset," Ethan said, "and his name's Brick Tanner. He's wanted for fraud himself and cheating people."

Charlie shrugged.

"So? That makes him more of a nuisance than a danger."

Ethan's body tensed.

"He's also wanted for armed robbery and ran with a gang of outlaws before telling folks he was giving it all up."

"You think he's shining people that he's changed?"

"I don't know Charlie…but I'm going to go find him," Ethan said, "He must have been at the saloon earlier. I might check with Scotty to see if he's in the hotel."

Charlie sighed.

"So much for a quiet Valentine's Day," he said, "the party was trouble enough. Even for a bunch of old maids."

"Charlie that aint very nice."

"But it's true," Charlie said, "They all just want what no man will give them."

Ethan arched a brow.

"I don't see women lining up to spend time with you on this day or any other."

The temporary marshal looked duly chagrined.

"Okay…but what about you? You've given up women altogether?"

Ethan shook his head. No, he'd loved a good time with a willing woman as much as the next man but lately…it hadn't seemed the same, or nearly enough. He wanted something more but didn't know what.

"I'd better head to the hotel and see if I can find this Tanner staying there. I need to bring him in to jail."

Charlie perked up.

"You need any help? I'm supposed to be in charge after all."

Ethan noticed how halfhearted he sounded about it. The town really needed a more permanent lawman.

"Okay…let's go."

* * *

Amelia struggled with Brick who just laughed at her efforts. God, she needed to find a way to get her gun so she could stop them. But she couldn't get close enough, not with Brick trying to get he upstairs.

"Why are you being such an animal," she said, "Can't you at least pretend to be a gentleman?"

Lukas and Brick looked at each other and then smirked at her.

"Your husband was no gentleman," Brick said, "If you knew what he did when you weren't around you wouldn't defend him."

She sighed stopping her struggle.

"I already want to kill him," she said, "for leaving me to take care of his problems."

"Now don't you worry about that little lady. Lukas and I will fix that right."

She felt bile in her throat at the thought.

"I bet with your husband gone, you've been needing it," Brick said, "It's not proper to say so but I can tell."

"Oh you can?"

"Damn straight and that husband of yours," Brick said, "He was needing it too. I caught him with the woman who used to be my wife."

Amelia tensed. What did he mean by that? Pierce had cheated on her with another woman? No, they had to be messing with her head.

"My sister too," Lukas said, "He's going to pay for that when we catch up with him."

Amelia's heart sunk in her chest even though she knew that Pierce was a cad and a cheat in other ways. Had he been cheating on her in Paradise?

But she couldn't think about that right now, not with her survival at stake.


	22. Chapter 22

Ethan had looked all over the saloon after Scotty let him and Charlie through the door. But he couldn't see the man he recognized on the poster.

"Anyone like him check in the hotel?"

Scotty looked at the sketch.

"Maybe…I can go fetch Mary and ask her."

Ethan nodded and Scotty went to look for her. Damn, he wished he could have paid more attention to the man when he'd been here. Seen what he'd been doing or who he'd been talking to if anyone. But so much had been going on between the poker game, the Valentine's Day party and a brawl or two. The man was dangerous, Ethan knew it in his gut and he'd been harassing Amelia earlier. If he hadn't been there….

Anything could have happened. She was living in a house in a town dominated by men due to its boom and bust mining history. Yet she managed to hold it all together…managed to live her life, to manage the bank in her husband's absence so capably.

Made of stern stuff obviously. Much more so than her sorry excuse for a husband. He looked up to see Scotty with Mary a step behind him.

"Is a man like that here?"

She nodded.

"He's got a room upstairs," she said, "I have the key…if he's not there."

Ethan and Charlie followed her up the stairs and then stepped in front of her in case the man didn't welcome visitors. He palmed his gun in his holster hoping he wouldn't need it.

* * *

Amelia sat down on the couch after Brick had pushed her on it. Apparently he decided not to force her upstairs for their time together, payback for what her husband had done. She'd just grown use to waking up and not seeing any sign of him in the house.

Not expecting him to come through the door or be there when she stepped in the house after a day at the bank. He'd been scarce since the day she'd…but no need to go there. Some things had to stay in the past.

"You nervous or anything?"

She looked up at him.

"About what?"

He leered.

"About being with real men?"

She chuckled humorously.

"Hasn't happened yet. "

She had to keep it light, not let them know how scared she felt right now. She'd been scared for a time after she realized Pierce had left her. When any of his former business clients came looking for him with a score to settle. But she'd grown up learning to never ever show fear to anyone.

To a horse who's suddenly turned dangerous…to rustlers…to any outlaw thinking they could rob her bank. It was damn hard sometimes but what was the alternative?

"It will happen tonight," he said, "I'll get first pickings and then my partner over here."

Lukas nodded.

"I like a young filly broken to saddle."

She narrowed her eyes at them.

"You can't be serious," she said, "Does that line impress your women?"

The two men looked at each other. Lukas snarled.

"Hey don't be smart mouthing us," he said, "We could make it real unpleasant real fast for you."

She snorted.

"I'm sure you could and there's nothing I could do about it."

Lukas nodded.

"Damn straight. So let's get this party started."

He reached for her but Brick stopped him.

"I'd rather we talk some first," he said, "Get to know each other better. Doesn't have to be all bad does it?"

Amelia felt as if she wanted to vomit. She wanted them both gone but she'd have to make them leave herself or drop them on the ground. No one would help her…and she'd stopped looking for help.

"What about that man you were with earlier?"

He meant Ethan. She just shrugged.

"He's not anyone…just someone passing through town."

"Seemed to like you," Brick continued, "he going to be a problem for us? Cause we can speed this along."

She shook her head. She wanted them to take their time while she figured out a way to save herself.

"He's probably back at the hotel," she said, "or talking with some of the local businessmen."

Brick smiled, just what he wanted to hear.

"Good…cause you're a fine looking woman," he said, "and I don't want any uninvited guests…"

* * *

Ethan stood by ready to shoot while Scotty unlocked the door. He'd knocked a couple times but no one answered.

The room looked empty but Ethan walked inside, slowly and carefully. But no one threatened him. The man had obviously left. Charlie followed him inside, his gun also drawn.

Where had he gone? Out of town, Ethan hoped not wanting to have to deal with him. Especially since Charlie didn't look in any mood to do his job. Damn, the town needed a fulltime marshal.

Ethan looked through the drawers on the desk and around the room for any belongings. All he found was a small saddlebag with some cash and tobacco…and a slip of paper.

Amelia's address.

* * *

Now he knew where the man had gone…and in a flash, he and Charlie were on their way.

"You just about ready?"

She glared up at Brick.

"Does it matter? You know I'm a married woman."

Brick sneered.

"Your husband cheated on you and you might want to think about getting him back?"

She shook her head.

"I don't care what he does. He's gone."

"Leaving you to deal with his problems," Brick said, "Sorry excuse for a man."

She narrowed her eyes.

"Not as sorry an excuse as you…"

He didn't like that one bit and he grabbed her arm to yank her off the couch but she grabbed the rest of it with her hand, holding on tightly.

"We could do it right here if you'd like."

She spit at him then and his face changed. His hand balled into a fist and he punched her in the face, nearly knocking her out.

Dizziness nearly led to darkness but somehow she stayed awake. Her eye smarted and she tried to duck when he tried to hit her again. This time, a glancing blow on a shoulder.

"Teach you to treat me with disrespect," he said, "Now I think it's time to start about making us happy."

* * *

Ethan and Charlie sprinted down the street towards Amelia's house which sounded quiet. The front door closed and just a glow of light coming from one of the downstairs windows.

He stepped up the stairs carefully knowing they'd creep and walked to the window near the swing to take a look inside.


	23. Chapter 23

Ethan's eyes widened when he saw Amelia in there with Brick, the man from the poster. She looked dazed and Brick looked mean.

No doubt one of Pierce's men he'd double crossed who'd come looking for him to get revenge. Since Pierce had been long gone, he planned to take his pound of flesh out of Amelia.

Charlie walked up to him.

"What's going on? Is he inside there?"

Ethan just nodded, keeping quiet. The porch would creak if he stepped on the wrong spot so he moved very carefully. He didn't want to give himself away. He wanted to get inside. Breaking the door and rushing inside with Charlie was an option.

It was two against one even if Brick proved to be armed. But then out of the shadows, he saw another man. One he didn't recognize.

"There's two."

Charlie sighed.

"Going to make our job harder then," he said, "You want to go get more men. I don't need to deputize them."

"Don't have any time," Ethan said, "Most of them are too far away or too drunk to help and you think someone like Axelrod's going to risk his own neck for her?"

Sad truth was, most of the town's men weren't brave enough to protect anyone or to help rescue someone in trouble even a young woman. Amelia's outspokenness and her refusal to hide in her house after being abandoned by her husband hadn't won her too many friends. She might come off as standoffish even cold in how she conducted business but she'd helped the town out in many ways. She deserved so much better than this treatment.

"So what do we do?"

Ethan sighed.

"You watch the front…I'm going to try to get in the back," he said, "I know the layout of her house. Been there a couple times."

Including that one time she'd needed help on the street and he'd taken her home, staying in the parlor with her until the closest thing the town had to a doctor could help her.

Charlie nodded.

"Might work…okay you'd better get going then…especially if we're doing this by ourselves."

Ethan didn't know any other way that'd work to get her free. The men might decide to kill her after they were done with her and he didn't even want to imagine…with all the awful things he'd witnessed in his life, it'd be too much.

She just had too much life in her despite all that happened. A bit of sass under all that steel demeanor she showed the town. He'd seen her out riding her horse, carefree and wild and he imagined she might be like that when no one watched.

A side of her he wished he'd known.

He left the front porch and crept around the side of the house through the brush towards the back area. He saw the garden of vegetables she tended in neat rows and some beds of brightly colored flowers. Spring had come early in that regard to Paradise.

God, he had to figure out how he was going to get inside and take out both of the men before they could hurt one woman like a duo of cowards. Whatever Pierce had done to them, no way justified going after his wife. She'd been through enough already though he suspected she kept most of it to herself. But the past day or so, he'd gotten some insight into the iron lady.

He climbed up the back steps quietly, putting his hand on his gun. He discovered that the door was unlocked and soon he'd opened it.

* * *

Amelia's face hurt and she could feel some swelling around one of her eyes and her mouth. She tasted her own blood.

Damn Pierce for leaving her to deal with his secret life that he'd hidden from her. These men weren't mad at her, they didn't even know her but they were going to try their best to hurt her to get back at him. She'd tried fighting them but unless she could get to one of her guns, she'd never get away from them.

Brick stepped towards her and she watched him.

"You know you're a pretty lady…at least Pierce has good taste in wives," Brick said, "but not in his choice of victims for his business dealings."

"Like I said, I didn't know what he did. I was running the bank."

"Doesn't matter," Brick said, "What matters is how happy you make me in other ways."

"I'm married…my husband…"

"is not here and he's messed around with my wife," he said, "and his sister."

Amelia had always wondered if Pierce had been a cheat in all ways. She thought his lust for money superseded any other vices. Obviously she was wrong about that.

Lukas snickered.

"How much longer are we going to be talking," he said, "I want to start having some fun."

Brick sighed.

"Need another drink first," he said, "Lady might need a drink too. She don't look too thrilled about either one of us. She'll change her mind right quick won't you?"

Amelia felt the iciness of fear inside her veins and the pain in her face faded away. She had to find some way to get to the bureau to get the guns she stashed there. But the men blocked her way and they were too strong to push past.

She had to find a way to outwit them instead.

* * *

Ethan crept through the kitchen and heard the voices coming from inside the parlor. Her voice and that of the two men. They were talking about Pierce and all his shortcomings. He'd never liked the guy so none of it surprised him but he didn't know if Amelia knew as much about her husband.

Not that it mattered right now. What mattered was getting her out of there. He knew Charlie remained outside in the front and he'd wished he had two men taking the sides but he didn't have time to round up any sober men who were brave enough to take these two outlaws out.

"Your husband's going to throw a rage when he finds out what we did to his wife," Brick said, "but it'll be worth it."

"Pierce doesn't care about what happens to me at all…so you're wasting your time."

Ethan could tell she wasn't bluffing either. That just made him want to help her all the more.


	24. Chapter 24

Ethan crept ever closer but he knew he couldn't move yet. He had to catch them off guard to make sure they didn't harm Amelia. If that meant taking them on one at a time he'd do that.

If that meant silencing them permanently, he could handle that too.

Amelia, he needed to see that she was all right but if he didn't cross the kitchen floor and then the hallway just right…the floor would creak giving him away.

He couldn't let that happen. Not with two men who were probably armed and ready to kill anyone who stopped them. He'd seen many a man desperate enough for revenge to kill the closest thing to the target of it. But he could be stealth until he needed to act.

"So your husband won't miss you then," Brick said, "Probably with some woman right now."

Ethan's hand clenched into a fist. He wanted to slam it into that man's face but he knew he had to be calm. Any impulsive move could cost Amelia's life and his but then he'd had plenty of practice as a gunfighter to wait for the right time to aim his weapon and fire it.

Sometimes he didn't even have to fire it but that was still too rare for his liking. He didn't know how it would work here. But the two men appeared edgy and volatile…he wondered what Pierce had stolen from them besides money…and wives. He didn't care but he'd be damned if Amelia would pay the price.

He'd never been impressed by a man who seemed like he couldn't stand on his own two feet. Hell, Amelia had more strength than he did. He hadn't realized that until lately.

She was strong because she had to be. Even with two men threatening to harm her she stood up to them.

"Enough of this nonsense, she needs to get up those stairs…"

Then he heard her voice, trying hard to keep the fear out of it.

"What's the hurry? Why don't you tell me more about yourselves?"

She kept most of the tremble out of her voice.

"Your husband cheated us…end of story."

"Damn straight and now we're getting back at him."

Amelia kept talking.

"So he sold you some land that didn't exist…or a share in a gold mine he didn't own?"

Brick grumbled.

"Something like that…my wife and I we put everything in to that land purchase," he said, "all our life savings and that's before I caught him with my wife."

"I see…if I had the money I'd give it back to you but I don't…"

Brick grew more agitated.

"Don't want your money," he said, "I want that body of yours so I can tell your husband when I see him how sweet it was."

"Yeah me too…but I'll wait until he's done with you…I'm more patient than him."

Ethan was close to hearing enough but he had a few more steps to go until he reached the doorway into the parlor.

* * *

Amelia could barely see out of one of her eyes that had swelled shut but she kept the other eye on both men and then on the bureau where she had guns sitting for her to turn the tables on these two men. She hated them both and wanted them dead.

But she had to bide her time and try to keep them from dragging her upstairs. She didn't want what waited for her up there. If she could keep them talking…her mind would work to find a means for escape.

She didn't have anyone to help her and certainly not save her from these two men. She had only herself to rely on but she was scared of these men…she just couldn't let it paralyze her.

Brick sat on the chaise and she pulled herself as far away from him as possible. She thought he'd hit her again and this time knock her out so she had to be careful. But when he took one of his hands and stroked her leg trying to work the hem of her dress up higher she bit her lip.

"She's mite pretty isn't she," Lukas said, "Skin as smooth as the finest silk I'd imagine."

Brick chuckled, moving his hand up her leg even higher rubbing the fabric of the dress. She tried to keep from flinching not wanting to set him off or betray any sign of fear.

"I bet she's nice in all kinds of ways," Brick said, "I think I'm about ready to have some fun."

"No…."

She put her hand up and they both just looked at her. Then they heard something drop from somewhere in the back of the house. Both men looked at each other and then at her.

* * *

Ethan dropped the cup from the kitchen cabinet and it shattered. He hoped that it would attract the attention of the men and one of them would come to investigate it, splitting them up.

He crept back in the shadows when he heard the footsteps coming towards him. Then as soon as the man walked past him, he grabbed hold of him hoping to slam his head against a wall but the man struggled and they both hit the cabinet rattling it.

Ethan struggled to hold onto him as the man fought him back. He knew he had to try to keep on his feet.

Brick heard the struggling and he grabbed Amelia.

"Get up the stairs…," he said, "don't struggle or you'll die and so will whoever came to save you."

He started pulling her up the stairs and she stumbled on purpose but it didn't deter him.

"Lukas will take him out and then he'll join us."

They reached the top floor and he lurched on the landing dragging her with him. He started pulling her towards one of the bedrooms.

"Let me go…"

He slapped her face and she felt the recoil as she narrowly avoided smacking her head on the doorway. They were heading towards the room she shared with her husband when he'd lived here.

"Get in there…"

But instead of joining her, he pushed her in the darkened bedroom and then jammed the door shut with a nearby chair before going downstairs to help Lukas.


	25. Chapter 25

Amelia felt trapped inside her bedroom. When he'd pushed her in there, she'd expected the worst and was going to fight back. But he'd pushed her in the room and slammed the door before leaving.

She'd gone to the door and tried to open it but it was jammed. She'd never be able to push through it. Down below her, she heard noises of what sounded like a struggle. What had happened? Had someone come in her house looking for her? The person who came to mind was Ethan.

What would he be doing here? He'd said goodnight to her and headed away, probably back to the hotel or saloon. He left her alone after making sure she'd made it safely only danger had been waiting inside for her.

Something crashed and she didn't know what to do. She'd been alone in her house for over a year and had come to terms with it. It's not as if she were completely defenseless. She had her guns after all.

If she could get to them but not locked up here. She didn't know what she'd do if he came back for her but she had to come up with a plan.

Damn her husband for putting her in this position. It had been hard at first when she'd woken up and discovered him long gone. It'd hurt because a part of her had still loved him even though he'd done something so unforgivable. He hadn't been there when she most needed him.

It'd been left for Ethan to take care of her. A man she'd scorned many times because of his lifestyle but when he'd seen her in trouble and in pain, he hadn't hesitated to help get her home.

He'd thought she was sick but the truth was much worse. No, thinking about it now would only weaken her when she most needed to be strong. She wasn't giving up anything to these two men. She'd find a way to kill them first.

If her husband had burned them it had nothing to do with her. He'd hurt her most of all in ways that swindling someone out of real estate or money paled alongside.

She wondered what was going on downstairs and tested the door again but it was jammed. Brick must have placed a piece of furniture to block it. She was trapped as long as he needed her to be.

No, she couldn't accept that. She had to find a way to free herself.

* * *

Ethan had knocked out Lukas in two blows. The first had knocked him off his feet and the second had leveled him flat.

Brick would be coming downstairs to check on him and that's when he needed to knock him out too. Amelia depended on him and he didn't know what happened to her. He guessed that Brick had confined her someplace on the upper floor.

The stairs creaked and he knew that Brick was trying to surprise him. But it wouldn't work. He had his gun and his fists and he was going to make sure that Brick didn't stay up on his feet long.

If he had to shoot him that'd work too after hearing what he'd threatened to do to Amelia. She'd never been someone who viewed him very highly. He'd thought her too cold and unfriendly, too tied up in money and her bank.

Someone he could never understand at all. But the time he'd spent with her tonight had shown him another side of her. He knew how vulnerable she'd been when he'd found her nearly on the ground in the street from whatever had ailed her. She wouldn't say very much to him about it but he'd picked her up and carried her once they'd reached her house. She'd been pretty light in his arms and barely moving but her face, it'd been stricken with pain that reached inside her soul.

It'd been not long before Pierce had taken off and left her. She'd buried herself in her work and he hadn't seen much out of her outside the bank for a while.

He saw a shadow he knew to be Brick and prepared to lunge at him. The man wasn't that smart and Ethan hooked his arm dragging him around to slam against a wall. Brick tried to punch him but Ethan dodged it and then slammed him back.

"I'm going to kill you…"

Ethan heard the man's threats but he'd find any weapons soon enough.

"You'd better try harder," he said, "then I have reason to kill you for what you tried to do to her."

Brick grimaced.

"She's no better than her con artist of a husband," he said, "Someone's got to pay for what he did."

Ethan slammed him against the wall again.

"Like you're going to pay for trying to hurt a woman who's already been more hurt by her husband than you or your friend."

"Who cares about her," Brick muttered, "I just want what's mine."

Ethan got tired of his complaining and balled his hand into a fist before slamming it into Brick's face. The man collapsed in a heap on the floor.

"You got it."

Charlie came in just then along with two other men including Tiny who'd he recruited to help him. They took a gander at the two knocked out men…and then at Ethan who stood over them.

"What'd you do?"

Ethan sighed.

"Take them off to jail before they wake up," he said, "I got to go find Amelia…"

He left them to go do just that. Running up the stairs and then down the hallway until he found the door which had been blocked by furniture. He pulled it away and opened the door.

She sat in the corner making herself small, her eyes closed.

"Amelia…"

She opened her eyes and saw him standing in the doorway.

"Ethan?"

He crossed the room in a few strides and she got up on her feet. He saw the bruises on her face and reached with his fingers to brush strands of her hair away from them to get a better look.

"The men…where are they?"

"Charlie and Tiny are taking them off to jail," Ethan said, "You hurt?"

She paused and then shook her head.

"You?"

He smiled at her, holding out his hand. She took it and he pulled her on her feet.

"I'm just fine Amelia…I'll get John Taylor to look at your bruises."

She furrowed her brow.

"John Taylor…oh he's your friend."

He nodded and he did something that he hadn't planned. He slid his arm around her waist. She didn't seem to mind.

"Come on…let's get out of here and get that taken care of okay?"

She nodded and they left the house.


	26. Chapter 26

Last Chapter! Hope you enjoyed this story! Thanks for reading and the feedback! Appreciate it so much!

* * *

Amelia flinched a bit when John Taylor patched her up with what turned out to be arnica and it did its job. The bruising and swelling faded before it could really get started.

"Thanks John Taylor," she said, "I'm feeling better."

He smiled.

"You are looking better," he said, "Just take it easy for a day or so and you'll feel a whole lot better."

She nodded and then looked over at Ethan who was talking to Charlie about the fates of the two men.

"If it hadn't been for him I don't know what would have happened," she said, "Those men were so angry at Pierce and he wasn't around so…"

"They took it out on you. I can't abide by a man who's got obligations or wrongs against another and then runs away from them leaving his family to handle them."

She looked down at her hands.

"He ran away from so many things," she said, "I thought he was much stronger than that and yet…it's men like Ethan Cord who stick around when it gets tough."

John Taylor nodded.

"He's a good man…he's got a difficult job that a lot of people might not understand…"

"Including myself."

John Taylor sighed.

"Amelia…it's difficult to get to know a man like Ethan. He doesn't make it real easy."

She smiled.

"Something he and I have in common."

"Perhaps among other traits."

She considered that and didn't know what else they might share. But Ethan, she'd criticized him a lot including to his face and yet he'd proven to have been for her more than once. Including…

"He helped me before…that day on the street and I never really thanked him."

John Taylor's face grew somber.

"It's not easy facing that Amelia…the loss of something so precious."

She felt her eyes sting…even after nearly two years.

"It was for the best…Pierce was too much of a child himself to handle raising one," she said, "and I…well…what would have happened?"

"There will be other chances."

She shrugged.

"I have to learn better taste in men and I don't know if marriage is something I'm willing to try again."

"You can't let one bad experience stop you from enjoying your life…"

She paused for a long moment.

"That was the worst day of my life…and Pierce, he just even when he found out…his first response was to leave the house and go play poker. I never felt so alone…ever."

He rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Men react to crises differently Amelia…and some like Pierce run away. But you're much stronger than that. There's nothing wrong with that."

She nodded slowly realizing the truth behind his wisdom. She had managed to move on from some painful days in her marriage. It was over she knew that in all ways but officially.

"I'll remember that…in the meantime, I've got to go open the bank."

"One day…"

She shook her head.

"People depend on me John Taylor. I'm not my husband. I don't run away and I don't let people down who depend on me."

He smiled at her and she got up to leave. Ethan glanced over after Charlie left out the door.

"You leaving?"

She nodded.

"I've got to get back on with my life…but thank you so much Ethan…"

"No problem Amelia. I'll be by later to check up on you. Make sure your house is secure."

She arched her brows.

"Ethan…really I'm just fine. I'll be okay."

"I know that but I'm coming by anyway," he said, "Your back door needs fixing."

She glanced over at John Taylor who winked and she smiled at him.

"I'll be waiting," she said, "I'll also be fixing up some Irish stew if you'd like to stay for some supper."

He tipped his hat.

"I'd like that…"

She nodded and left them both as she went to do what she vowed to do, which was to live her life.

* * *

Claire returned from the post office where she dropped off her letter to be sent to Ethan in Paradise, California. She didn't know how he'd react to hearing from her since he'd last seen her when she'd been but an infant.

She wished she remembered what he looked like. If it wasn't for the picture, what image would form inside her head? She hoped her mother wouldn't find out…but she didn't know what else to do. She knew Lucy was sicker than she let on…and she felt scared.

Claire had always been the leader in the household from the time she'd been a little girl. But for the first time, she didn't know what the future held.

She sensed her mama was sick enough to leave them forever but not aware of it enough to make plans. So that's where Claire stepped in to take care of her family.


End file.
